Ensnare the Senses
by Crimsonphoenix1
Summary: Please keep in mind that I wrote this 8 years ago when I was 14, so of course the story has mistakes & issues! No negativity please.. Harry is captured by Voldemort & finds himself in another sticky situation... takes place from 5th-7th year.
1. I Know Why the Caged Bird's Insane

NOTE: Harry Potter is NOT mine!!! I don't own it...I have nothing to do with it. I'm just messing around with the characters. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling-not me. By the way, this is my first attempt at fan fiction, so it's probably not going to be all that great, but here we go...  
  
Chapter 1- I Know Why the Caged Bird's Insane  
  
  
  
Harry Potter was known by many names in both the Muggle and Wizarding World. In the muggle world, he was often known as "that Potter boy" or "fool." In the wizarding world, he was known as the "Boy-Who-Lived" or "Potter" or just plain "Harry." Where he was right now, though, he was often called the "insane one."   
  
It was quite a long story, but short enough to be told. Harry Potter, as everyone in the wizarding world knew, was the evil Lord Voldemort's worst enemy and Harry was the only one that could kill him. On a cool night a year or so ago, Harry Potter and a few members of the Order of the Phoenix were cornered one day in Surrey. The Order members and Harry tried to fight off the band of about 10 Death Eaters, but one (who's name Harry didn't know, for they were all masked) ran up behind Harry, grabbed his wand, and forced a Portkey in his hand.  
  
Harry appeared in a place that he didn't recognize. He had struggled against the Death Eater who was holding both him and his wand, but couldn't escape. He had finally stopped struggling, and just walked forward with dread. The Death Eater had kept telling him that it would be no use to try and struggle because he was captured now. Harry just sneered at him and was dragged along the very large hallway. The Death Eater had opened a heavy-looking door at the end of the hall and Harry was pushed inside.  
  
Voldemort had sat upon a high chair, his crimson snake-like eyes narrowed as he put on a horrible smile. His high-pitched voice had rang through the hall as he spoke. "Bring him to me."  
  
"Yes, master," the Death Eater said.  
  
"Yes, master," Harry had mocked him quietly with a look of disgust on his face. The Death Eater dragged Harry further. He could feel Voldemort's eyes on him. He turned around slightly and attempted to bite the man. He was just centimeters away from biting his hand when the Death Eater moved his hand, concentrating on keeping Harry restrained. Harry had scowled, and turned to face Voldemort as they stopped walking. Voldemort stood and stared at him, that wicked smile still on his face.   
  
"I have you now, Potter, and you won't get away this time. Dumbledore may have put that ruddy spell on you, but it won't keep me from making your life as miserable as possible," Voldemort threatened quietly.   
  
Harry wanted to retort- to fight back- because he knew that Voldemort couldn't kill Harry without killing himself. The spell placed on Harry was to insure that Voldemort wouldn't kill Harry. If Harry died for any reason, Voldemort would drop dead. Only Dumbledore could take the spell off, and Harry knew all of this. His mouth had started to form words until Voldemort spoke first.  
  
"Take him into his reserved cell and return to me for your reward," he said imperatively.  
  
Harry was about to speak again, but was being dragged away and didn't have enough time. Harry had tried to bite the man again, but failed. Harry and the Death Eater had headed back out of the hallway that they came in through, and walked outside. They had walked around the castle (which was smaller than Hogwarts, but still big) and stopped at a door. It was very heavy metal, and looked sealed tightly. The Death Eater whispered a few words, and waved his wand over the door. The door opened, and the Death Eater had shoved Harry inside. They walked down about 6 steps and Harry looked around.  
  
The very large place was full of cells with stone floors. Torches burned on the stone walls, sending a dull light over the place. There were no windows. It was very cold, and Harry shivered slightly at the not-so-pleasant smell. It wasn't very clean either, and stone walls seperated each cell like stalls.   
  
Harry had arched an eyebrow as he read the signs above each aisle. They were in the following order: MUGGLES, WIZARDS, WITCHES, OTHER. Each aisle had five cells on each side of it. The Death Eater had urged Harry down the WIZARDS aisle and they stopped on the fourth cell on the left. On the bars hung a sign that said:  
  
HARRY JAMES POTTER  
  
HALF-BLOOD  
  
JULY 31, 1980  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, starting to resist the Death Eater as the man took out his wand and unlocked the cell. The door creaked, and Harry was threw inside, landing on the hard, dirty, stone floor with a thud. The Death Eater had closed the door (which were bars) and locked it. Harry had stood up and looked out the heavy steel bars, grasping them with his hand as he put the side of his face against the bars, watching the Death Eater walk away quickly, obviously wanting to get out of this "prison room."   
  
"What is this place?" he asked the retreating Death Eater. The Death Eater ignored him.  
  
"This is You-Know-Who's place, the Fortress of Shadows," said a croaky woman's voice over from the witches aisle. "This bloody room is called the Prison Chamber. They hate it when people talk in here," she added with a growl.  
  
"Thanks," he said gloomily. "Wish I had my wand," he muttered loudly.  
  
"Don't we all, idiot?" said the same croaky woman, "well, all the one's who can use wands, I mean."   
  
Harry could hear many people start muttering, screaming, yelling, and coughing, and talking in languages Harry didn't understand. The Death Eater that had brought Harry in held his wand in the air, and it emitted the sound of a gunshot that echoed throughout the lowly place. Some dirt fell from the ceiling and Harry figured they must be underground. All of the people that were making noise shut up, as the Death Eater shouted "QUIET!!!!!!!!!!" Harry shook his head, removed his hands from the bars, and turned to look around his cell. All three of the walls that surrounded him were pure stone with pictures of snakes carved into them. An uncomfortable looking bed was in the far left corner, and there was a small, unstable table in the far right corner. Harry sighed, aware of only the coughing, sneezing, and whimpers let out occasionally from the people in the other cells.  
  
He would have to stay in this stupid place for the rest of his life. A surge of anger came through him, wishing he could just get out of here. 'It's enough to turn someone insane,' he thought. He decided, upon further thinking, that if these people were going to keep him locked in here and as miserable as possible, he would promise to make their life a living hell.  
  
A year has passed since he made that promise, and he kept it. The Death Eaters who fed and watched the prisoners did not go in the cell with Harry. Harry turned into an insane, aggressive prisoner who would attack anyone who entered in black robes. The Death Eaters couldn't change their robes (which were all black) so they just slid the food through the bars of Harry's cell instead of opening the cell and going in like they normally did, jerking their hands back quickly to make sure Harry didn't bite them or break their hand. The last Death Eater who entered in the cell with Harry got the crap beat out of them. Harry had snapped their wand in half and threw it out of the cell. That Death Eater was dared to go in the cell with Harry, and he regretted it and never approached Harry's cell again.   
  
Harry was the livliest prisoner in the whole Prison Chamber, his green eyes always firey and wild. The other prisoners were used to Harry's aggressive nature, and always knew when someone was approaching his cell because Harry would snarl like a dog and chase them away, screaming like a banshee and cursing. Harry would often pace the front of the bars, waiting for a Death Eater to pass and lunge out towards them, sending the Death Eater scrambling away, startled. Harry would also lay on his bed, looking up at the snakes on the wall and hissing words to no one in Parseltongue. They were always the same words...Ensnare the Senses.....Ensnare the Senses....but of course no one knew what he was saying. He occasionaly said other things in Parseltongue- but most often it was just...Ensnare the Senses..  
  
This was another reason why the Death Eaters never approached his cell except to quickly slide in his food. The only other person the Death Eaters knew that spoke Parseltongue besides Harry was Lord Voldemort himself. Harry talked more in Parseltongue than he did English just to make everyone afraid to approach his cell. It obviously worked. No one understood why Harry was so crazy, but they avoided him as much as possible. The Death Eaters still had to feed Harry. The spell was still in effect and if Harry died, so would Voldemort. So, they had to put up with the boy-who-hated-people-wearing-black. The Death Eaters had managed to put another sign right below Harry's old one without getting attacked by Harry. It said: AGGRESSIVE- ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.  
  
One day, as Harry lay on his bed speaking Parseltongue, a Death Eater opened his cell door and entered. 


	2. That Insane Potter Boy

NOTE: Once again *Sigh* Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. It's J.K. Rowling's!!! This chapter, Harry bites Voldemort. Literally. He also gets his revenge on a woman who ruined his life...  
  
Chapter 2- That Insane Potter Boy  
  
Harry stopped speaking Parseltongue and sat up as the cell door closed, looking at the Death Eater dressed in black, a wand in her hand. Harry bared his teeth, leapt up, and started growling like a rabid dog. The Death Eater pointed his wand at him and Harry recognized the woman's face. It was Bellatrix Lestrange, who killed his godfather Sirius.  
  
Harry leapt forward with all of his power, ignoring the other Death Eaters outside of the cell, looking in and gaping, apparently they had dared her to go in the cell.. Harry tackled Bella, snarling. She screamed as she was thrown to the floor. Harry grabbed her wand and snapped it in half, throwing it towards the Death Eaters that were watching. Harry raised his fist and slammed it into Bella's nose, breaking it with a CRACK! He then kicked her, spit flying from his mouth, his eyes narrowed with fury. Bella's nose was pouring with blood and she was unable to fight back. She screamed again and tried flailing her legs, which were caught by Harry. Harry flipped her over on her stomach, grabbed her head, and pounded it into the stone floor. He backed up slightly, cackling with insanity. After a few minutes she managed to stand, clutching her nose with one hand and her ribs with the other. Harry then leapt forward before she could react, slamming his fist into Bella's chest, knocking her into the stone wall behind her. She crumpled into a heap on the floor, unconscious.   
  
Harry started laughing and the Death Eaters outside watched in horror. They opened the cell while Harry was standing back, grinning, pleased with himself. They grabbed Bella, dragged her out, grabbed her useless wand, and retreated. Harry returned to lying on his bed and speaking to the wall in Parseltongue. "...Ensnare the Senses....Ensnare the Senses...Bellatrix Lestrange is an idiot..." he hissed. One of the Death Eaters listened to him for a second before shaking his head and moving on.  
  
The Death Eater holding Bella (who was still unconscious) was gasping for breath as three other Death Eaters followed him.   
  
"Bloody hell," the one holding Bella gasped, "I thought she was going to die."  
  
"I wonder what Master will say?" one of them said quietly.  
  
"Would I say about what-" Voldemort appeared from around the corner, staring at them, his eyes resting on Bella.   
  
The Death Eaters clumsily bowed to him.   
  
"What happened to her?" Voldemort asked coldly.  
  
"The insane Potter boy," one of them replied shakily.  
  
"He did this?"   
  
"Yes, My Lord."  
  
"Isn't he in his cell?" he asked calmly.  
  
"Yes, Master..but...but she went in there."  
  
"Why?" he demanded quietly.  
  
The Death Eaters looked at each other, frightened. The one holding Bella spoke up. "We dared her to go and disturb him, My Lord. None of us go in there. He's mental, My Lord."  
  
Voldemort snorted. "You are afraid of approaching a wandless teenager? Why didn't Bella just use her wand to defend herself?"  
  
"She did, Master," one of the Death Eaters held up the broken wand, "but he snapped it in half and attacked her."  
  
"Tsk..Tsk...Well, get her to a bed and do something about it," Voldemort snapped, "what is the boy doing now?"  
  
"He is speaking Parseltongue to the wall, My Lord."  
  
"Really..." he said with a threatening whisper. "Take care of her and do something useful after that," he added coldly, then left towards the Prison Chamber.   
  
"Yes, My Lord," they all muttered and clumsily hurried off.  
  
Voldemort entered the Prison Chamber to the silence and walked down the WIZARDS aisle, not making a sound. He stopped at Harry's cell and looked at the sign: AGGRESSIVE- ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. He then heard it, a low hissing, coming from the bed. He listened to it carefully.  
  
"Ensnare the Senses...Ensnare the Senses."  
  
He looked over at the hissing boy, who was lying on his back, staring at the snakes on the wall. Voldemort narrowed his eyes. What in the world did he mean by "Ensnare the Senses?"  
  
"Bellatrix Lestrange is an idiot...killed my godfather...Ensnare the Senses....she's an idiot.." Harry continued.  
  
"And so are you," Voldemort hissed in the snake language.  
  
"Look who's talking...go away..leave me.."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes...go."  
  
"No..you stupid boy, I will not go. What did you do to Bella?" He switched to English.  
  
"I gave her what she deserved- a broken nose.." Harry hissed coldly in Parseltongue.  
  
"You deserve a broken nose you stupid-" Voldemort replied in English.  
  
In Parseltongue, Harry interrupted, "I would say the same to you but you don't have a nose to break.."  
  
Voldemort was getting quite angry now.."You-" he began and then broke off. Harry was looking at Voldemort as if he had just realized he was there. His wild, green eyes were narrowed, his teeth bared. Voldemort stared at him.   
  
Harry jumped off of the bed and leapt towards the bars where Voldemort was standing, grabbing ahold of the bars and shaking them as hard as possible, snarling and making growling noises. Voldemort jumped back, quite startled. Harry paced up and down the bars, lunging towards Voldemort, snarling, showing his teeth. Voldemort, recovering from his surprise, reached towards one of the bars and grabbed it. Harry glared, jumped forward, and one of his teeth raked across one of Voldemort's unnaturally long fingers. Voldemort was able to jerk back his hand before getting it bit off. Harry backed up about two steps, still glaring. Voldemort then, thinking it was funny to tease Harry, stuck his hand through the bars and into the cell.   
  
Harry, who could move quick, jumped forward again and sank his teeth into Voldemort's hand. Voldemort's eyes widened and he tried jerking his painful hand back, but Harry wasn't letting go until a couple of seconds later, finally, Harry let up off of his hand and began snarling again. Voldemort looked at his bleeding hand, shook his head, and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at Harry, knowing that he can't kill the boy without killing himself, but he sooooo wanted to. "Crucio!!" he bellowed. Just a little bit of pain won't kill him.   
  
Harry screamed and so did a few other people who heard what Voldemort said. Harry twitched on the floor, screaming in pain.   
  
Then it stopped. Voldemort had lifted the curse off of him, and he stood up and began snarling again as Voldemort started to walk away. Harry, who was angry now, walked to the bars boldly and blew a loud raspberry, which made Voldemort turn around and shoot another curse at him, which missed. Harry dissapeared from view for a moment, then returned, snarling again and spitting. Voldemort turned around, still holding his bleeding hand. He saw that the boy just wasn't going to quit, so he left, muttering. "That insane Potter boy..."  
  
(A/N: Voldie can be such an idiot sometimes, you know? Anyway...Next chapter it gets a bit more exciting..hang in there! Please Review :-)) 


	3. Death Eaters & Order Members

NOTE: THANK YOU REVIEWERS!!!   
  
Harry Potter's not mine (I don't have that big of an imagination) it's all J.K. Rowling's. This is my first attempt to fan fiction. Towards the middle of this story it might get a bit boring, but cool stuff will come up soon. In this chapter, I really like Voldemort's sarcasm. I think it's quite funny. :-) Quite a bit of action in this chapter, too.) I really don't know where I'm going with this fic, so if it seems a little screwed up sometimes- I'm sorry! Well, here's chapter 3.  
  
Chapter 3- Death Eaters & Order Members  
  
Voldemort sat in his high chair, his pitiless crimson eyes glaring down at the Death Eaters who wanted to see him. There were three of them, and they all watched over the Prison Chamber. Voldemort's hand was healed now, but there was a little lightning-shaped scar there. When Voldemort had first saw this scar, it reminded him of the similarly shaped scar that he had given the boy when he was a baby. Well, maybe he should start calling him a man since he was almost 17, the age where a wizard is considered an adult. 'No,' Voldemort thought. 'I am supposed to be giving him a hard time.'  
  
One of the Death Eaters (who were all on their knees) slightly cleared his throat. Voldemort snapped back to reality and looked at them.   
  
"Stand up," he said venemously.  
  
The three scrambled quickly to their feet. "You wanted to see me?" Voldemort asked.  
  
"Yes, my lord, we just wanted to ask about...." a Death Eater began.  
  
Another Death Eater finished it. "About Potter...."  
  
"What about him?" Voldemort snapped. He heard the slight quiver in his voice that sounded slightly like fear. He could almost kill himself for being even slightly afraid of Potter.  
  
"He hasn't been eating much lately, my lord. He is still as aggressive as ever, but he is starting to push out his food," a Death Eater said.  
  
"Get him and bring him here," Voldemort said impatiently. If the boy died, then he would, so he had to make the boy eat.  
  
"Well, my lord, he's still...just...he's..." one of them stammered.  
  
"We still cannot go in the cell with him," one shuddered, expecting punishment.  
  
Voldemort rolled his eyes (A/N: If he can even do that?!) and stared at them. "If you three can't get the boy out, then who can? Wormtail couldn't restrain a peice of parchment properly- much less a wizard!" he said angrily. "Am I going to have to gather up all of the Death Eaters in this fortress to remove a boy from his cell?!" he glared.  
  
The Death Eater missed the sarcasm. "I think that may be necessary, my lord," he said.  
  
Voldemort felt like he could strangle them. "Very well. Go get them all and get the boy, you fools!!" he snapped, settling back down in his chair.  
  
The Death Eaters scrambled off.  
  
What Voldemort didn't know was that there were 5 Order of the Phoenix members in the Fortress of Shadows. They were Albus Dumbledore, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. All were here for one reason- to retrieve Harry. The 5 of them followed the Death Eaters silently. Each were invisible due to a charm Dumbledore put on them. They all had their wands drawn. They had all listened to conversation between Voldemort and the three Death Eaters.   
  
The three Death Eaters (who were all unaware that there were 5 Order members behind them) opened the door to where many of the Death Eaters stayed. Luckily, all 7 of them were there. One of the Death Eaters who watched the Prison Chamber spoke up. He squinted around the room (for it was night outside) and said clearly, "All of us have been asked to take Potter out of his cell and bring him to Voldemort."  
  
The other seven Death Eaters stood and walked out of the door without a word and all 10 of them (and the 5 Order members who were still following them) walked down to the Prison Chamber. When they reached it, Tonks almost gasped at the unpleasant odor but Dumbledore shushed her quietly. They all walked down the WIZARDS aisle and the ten Death Eaters came to a stop at the fourth cell on the left. They all had backed against the cell across from the fourth one on the left, and were staring inside of it. Dumbledore walked forward a little bit and read the sign that said: AGGRESSIVE- ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. And the other that told Harry's name, birthdate, and that he was a half-blood.  
  
Even though it was a summer's night outside, it was cold inside the Prison Chamber. The ten Death Eaters were still wide-eyed and as far away from Harry's cell as possible. Dumbledore could hear a low growling inside and a snarl. One of the Death Eaters edged forward towards the cell and gulped. He reached for the sealed door with his wand, and unlocked it. Harry still couldn't get out, but he lunged towards the Death Eater with the wand and attempted to grab it. Another Death Eater whispered into the Death Eater who almost got attacked's ear. They both nodded. The Death Eater with the wand leapt to one side, away from the door, and another Death Eater opened the door and ran in. The rest of the Death Eaters ran in after the one. This left the aisle clear except for one Death Eater, who hurriedly ran inside the cell and closed the door. Dumbledore, Tonks, Lupin, Kingsley, and Moody all watched from the outside, all gaping at Harry.  
  
Harry was skinnier than ever, but still powerful. He charged towards one of the Death Eaters and knocked her into the ground. It was Bella. Bella was still weak from her fight with Harry earlier, so she was easily knocked unconscious again. She lay still on the floor. Harry snarled, stood up again, and eyed all of the Death Eaters with his firey emerald eyes. He grinned as most of the Death Eaters conjured chains with their wands, while one other conjured a metal dog muzzle. Dumbledore noticed that Harry still had his Gryffindor school robes on, while the other prisoners had on all white. Harry walked around them all, still grinning and then snarling. He ran forward, tripped a Death Eater (who fell on top of Bella) and tackled him. Harry grabbed his wand, snapped it in two pieces, and through it outside of the cell, directly towards Kingsley, who leapt backward.   
  
The Death Eater who was being attacked by Harry yelled. "AAARRRRRRRGH! GET HIM OFF OF ME! HELP!" Harry took the Death Eater's arm and twisted it with a nasty CRACK! and it broke. The Death Eater remained on the floor as three others came forward, attempting to restrain Harry. Harry kicked out with both of his back legs, hitting two of them in the leg. Harry turned his head and sank his teeth into the third Death Eater's arm, making it bleed. He released Harry and yelled. One of the Death Eaters that got hit in the leg attempted to put the muzzle on Harry, who grabbed the Death Eater's throat. The Death Eater struggled and Harry threw him against the cell wall, where he lay massaging his neck and gasping for breath. So, four Death Eaters down, six more to go. The other with the hurting leg picked up the muzzle off of the floor and threw it at Harry, who ducked and ran towards him aggressively. The Death Eater yelped and jumped on the bed. Harry stopped, breathing heavily but grinning, looking wildly around. All five of the remaining Death Eaters came forward at once, pouncing on Harry, who snarled. Heavy chains were wrapped around him, restraining his arms.  
  
Two of them tried to restrain Harry's leg, but one backed off as Harry kicked him in the mouth. His mouth started bleeding immediately and he lay against the wall. There were now four left. One managed to put the metal dog muzzle around Harry's nose and mouth. Harry flipped over on his back, staring at the other four Death Eaters with narrowed, cold eyes. His chains rattled and Harry kicked out with his only free limbs- his legs. They tried to catch his legs, but they all got kicked eventually before they all came forward and pounced on his legs. Harry groaned a little but started moving his head around. He looked out of the cell directly to where Dumbledore was standing. Harry could almost sense the presence of other people there. He continued to stare at them, defeated. He had managed to take down six Death Eaters, but four eventually got him down.   
  
The Death Eaters wrapped one end of the chain to one of Harry's legs, and the other end of the same chain to Harry's other, leaving slack between his two legs so he could walk. He growled as much as he could when they lifted him off of the ground and set him on his feet. One of them conjured a leather collar with spikes on the outside and put it on Harry's neck. At least the spikes were on the outside, so that the collar was less painful. They then attached two chains to each of Harry's arms, and held them like a leash. Harry knew he couldn't go anywhere now. He narrowed his eyes and grudgingly moved forward, draped in chains that rattled. Two Death Eaters held Harry's "leashes" while one picked up the unconscious Bella and another helped the other four Death Eaters off of the ground. With that, the ten Death Eaters limped off, all at least supporting a minor injury.   
  
One was holding his arm and groaning, another his neck and gasping, another unconscious and hanging limply out of a limping Death Eater's arms, two were holding the dangerous-looking and disgruntled Harry, another was cradling a broken arm and starting to whimper, another was clutching his mouth, which was bleeding at an alarming rate, and the one holding Bella had sprained his ankle. It was quite hilarious, to the Order, who just watched a 16 year old wandless wizard defeat six or seven armed Death Eaters. Harry was shaking his head as much as he could and growling as loudly as possible in protest, but he walked forward. When all of them arrived in front of Voldemort's high chair, Voldemort looked at them all, amused.  
  
"Well, Well. I guess you three that first saw me were right. It did take my entire force of Death Eaters to capture a 16 year old wandless wizard!! How ridiculous!!" he said angrily, standing up. He looked at Potter, whose firey green eyes shone. Harry would have been grinning if he could. He was breathing quite heavily and stared at Voldemort, still growling. The Order members watched as Voldemort walked down to stand in front of Harry.  
  
"Why have you been neglecting your food?" he asked coldly.  
  
Harry growled and threw all of his weight forward towards Voldemort. The two Death Eaters that were holding his "leashes" braced themselves and pulled back. Harry stopped. Voldemort gave him a cruel, twisted smile.  
  
"Did you not hear me? I asked you why you have been neglecting your food. Answer me! Imperio!" he bellowed, his wand pointing towards Harry.  
  
Harry felt that floating sensation once again....he hadn't felt like this in so long...it was bliss, to think of nothing. Then there was a voice in the back of his head. "Answer me...answer me.."   
  
'No,' Harry thought, 'I won't'  
  
"Answer me..."  
  
"NO!!!"   
  
The words had escaped from his mouth. Voldemort took off the curse, and reality rushed over Harry like a wave of freezing water. No one spoke. The Hall was quiet.  
  
Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot. Harry then opened his mouth. "Because..." he whispered.  
  
"Because why?" Voldemort demanded harshly.  
  
"Because I haven't been hungry."  
  
"And may I ask why?"  
  
"Stomach," Harry grunted.  
  
"You know that you could die- and so would I," Voldemort said, glaring.  
  
"You're a poet and you didn't know it," Harry grinned.  
  
"Don't play games with me, Potter!"  
  
"I'm not playing any games..maybe you're hearing things." Harry realized that ryhmed too.  
  
Voldemort took out his wand and pointed it at Harry's forehead. Harry looked at Voldemort, unconcerned. "Blast me, Voldemort. Go ahead. Remember, kill me and you're dead..." Harry hissed in Parseltongue. "This should be a conversation between you and me, shouldn't it? Not afraid to talk to me alone, are you? Then speak, my puffed up popinjay," Harry added, remembering Phineas's words in his fifth year.   
  
Voldemort lowered his wand, glared at Harry for a second, then turned and walked back towards his high chair. When he was seated again, he spoke. "Take him away, back to the cell. Make sure he eats," he said impatiently, "If you are injured go to the nurse," he waved a hand towards the door.  
  
Seven Death Eaters in all scrambled to the hospital wing. One was not injured, but someone had to carry the unconscious Bellatrix. So, three Death Eaters walked back to the Prison Chamber. Dumbledore and the rest of the Order, who were following, were planning on taking Harry as soon as the three Death Eaters left Harry in his cell.   
  
When Harry was inside his cell and the Death Eaters had somehow managed to get all of the chains, the collar, and the muzzle off of him, they went to go get some of their horrible food for Harry. Harry was back to his insane-self again. As soon as they approached, Harry lunged out towards the cell, taking his food and pretending to eat it. As soon as the Death Eaters turned, he spit out the nasty food and kicked it outside of the cell. He then sat on his bed. Some fifteen minutes later, when the Death Eaters didn't return, Dumbledore told all of the others to take off their invisibility charms. They did so and as they appeared, Harry jumped up from his bed and stared, open-mouthed at them.  
  
"Profess-" he started.  
  
"Shh..Harry. We're here to get you out. Please stay quiet," Dumbledore whispered. He came forward, wondering if Harry was going to bite him, then looked over at him and saw he looked as normal as he ever was, just skinnier, tireder, dirtier. And the smell in the room didn't help. Dumbledore ran his wand over the cell door, trying different spells. Finally, the lock clicked and Dumbledore slowly pushed open the door and gestured for Harry to come towards him.   
  
Harry walked towards him as quickly as possible without making noise and walked outside of the cell door. Oh, how good he felt. He knew he was free. No Death Eater here would dare and stand up to Albus Dumbledore. Tonks, Lupin, Moody, Kingsley, and Dumbledore held out their wands as Dumbledore quickly shut the door again and it locked automatically. The six tiptoed quietly as Moody hit Harry on top of the head and Harry felt something weird, then realized Moody put a Disillusionment Charm on him. They walked out of the WIZARDS aisle and out of the heavy and sealed door that led outside. As soon as they were outside, Harry took a loud, deep breath that made the others turn around and look at him. He just hadn't had fresh air in so long..  
  
"Sorry," he whispered, and they turned away. Dumbledore led them to another door outside that was similar to the Prison Chamber door. Dumbledore unlocked it and he entered. Harry had never been in this room before, but it smelled better than the Prison Chamber. There was one shelf in the room with many small boxes on it. One was labeled: HARRY POTTER. Dumbledore walked towards this box and reached his hand inside of it and drew out something Harry thought he would have never seen again.  
  
It was his wand.  
  
Harry put on a huge grin that almost made his face hurt- but he didn't care. He came forward quickly and took it from Dumbledore, who smiled at Harry's toothy grin. Harry ran his fingers over it protectively, but it was as good as it has always been. Harry dropped his grin, but still had a little smile on his face as he pocketed it. Then, the six of them left the room, and Dumbledore sealed the door again then reached inside his pocket.   
  
"Portkey," he whispered. "Activated in 10 seconds..gather around quickly," he added.  
  
All six of them put a finger on the wet and wrinkled muggle newspaper, and stood still.  
  
"9...8...7...6...5...4...3..2..1.." Dumbledore counted down, and Harry felt the familiar hook behind his navel and the world spun as they left the grounds of the Fortress of Shadows.  
  
(A/N: Once again, Thank you so much for the kind reviews!!!!!! Please review and no flames!) 


	4. Welcome Home

(A/N: Thank you very much for the kind reviews. I REALLY appreciate them!!! They make my day :-). I seem to be in a 'revenge on people who hated Harry' mood so in this chapter, Harry's going to tell off an old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who he hated...I hope you enjoy it!)  
  
Chapter 4- Welcome Home  
  
Dumbledore, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, Lupin, and Harry all landed feet first on the floor of Dumbledore's office. Harry almost fell on the ground but was caught by Lupin. Dumbledore quickly discarded the Portkey and looked over at the four other adults in his office. Each of them shook Dumbledore's hand and then shook Harry's before they walked out of the office and to Hogsmeade where they could Apparate back home.  
  
Dumbledore gestured for Harry to sit down in the chair across from his desk. Harry sat down. Dumbledore sat as well and looked at Harry with mild concern.   
  
"Harry? Can I get you something? Are you hungry?"  
  
Harry nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"How about we head down to the Great Hall and get as much food as you like?"  
  
Harry nodded again and stood up. "Yes, I haven't eat anything for a long time.."  
  
Dumbledore and Harry both exited his office and headed towards the Great Hall. On their way there they talked.  
  
"Hogwarts doesn't seem the same without you, you know? Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will be delighted to see you- I daresay they have had quite a quiet year without you. Everyone has been quite worried about you.." Dumbledore said.  
  
"I doesn't seem the same without Hogwarts...I don't even know what today is-" Harry began.  
  
"June 21, 1996," Dumbledore clarified.  
  
"June?" Harry said, taken aback. "June? But Professor, I don't want to go back to Privet Drive again for the summer.."  
  
"No, Harry, you won't have to. You will stay here for the summer then next year you will start your seventh year."  
  
"But, won't I have to take sixth year?"  
  
"As to that, I don't know. I will let you know as soon as possible but in the meantime just enjoy your summer.."  
  
"I'm sure I will, Professor.."  
  
They entered the Great Hall and since there were no students in the summer- the house tables were empty and all of the teachers were at the high table, eating. A few looked up while they were eating, and when they saw Harry, gasped or dropped their utensils. Snape was the only teacher who didn't react with surprise at Harry. He just merely glared.  
  
Harry was about to instinctively sit at the Gryffindor table but Dumbledore stopped him and beckoned Harry to follow him. Harry shrugged and followed up to the high table. He could feel the eyes of all the surprised teachers (with the exception of Snape) on him as he walked behind Dumbledore then stopped beside Dumbledore's magnificent chair. Dumbledore conjured a chair between his and Professor McGonagall's (who was gaping at Harry) chairs. Dumbledore sat down in his chair and motioned for Harry to sit beside him.  
  
Professor McGonagall was the first person to speak. Her bottom lip was trembling. "Potter...I thought you were dead..."  
  
"No, Professor," he whispered, "just locked in a cell."  
  
And to his surprise, McGonagall reached over and hugged Harry, then let go. "Sorry," she said.  
  
Harry chuckled, "It's quite alright."  
  
Dumbledore jumped in. "We were watching you take down all of those Death Eaters in your cell...we thought you had lost your mind...we heard some of the Death Eaters talk about your insanity."  
  
Harry grinned. "Ah," he said as he saw all of the food he ordered appear on his tray, "I acted like that the whole year just to get them to leave me alone. They would dare each other to go in my cell sometimes, but I always snapped their wands in half. They were idiots. I would often scare them because I spoke a lot in Parseltongue," he put some mashed potatoes in his mouth then swallowed them. "After I knocked Bellatrix Lestrange unconscious one time, Voldemort" (McGonagall shuddered) "stuck his hand in my cell and I bit him. Then he put the Cruciatus Curse on me for a second then left. How come all of the Unforgivable Curses get thrown at me?"  
  
He speared his mashed potatoes again and started eating quickly.  
  
"You'll want to slow down, Potter, or you'll get sick," McGonagall said, watching him.  
  
Dumbledore was also watching Harry as he almost inhaled his food.  
  
"Oh..I'm just...just very hungry-" he was interrupted by the doors flying open.  
  
Dolores Umbridge, the toad-looking, short woman walked up the hall in between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.  
  
"Well, Well. Look what the cat dragged in," Harry said, not bothering to keep his voice down. He returned to his mashed potatoes. McGonagall snorted at Harry's words.   
  
Umbridge tried to walk as quickly as possible, but due to her short legs, got a short distance in a long period of time. When she finally reached the high table, Harry ignored her and kept eating his mashed potatoes. She stopped right in front of him and said loudly, "What are you doing here?" she sneered.  
  
"I was about to ask you the same question," Harry said fiercely as he slammed his fork on the table with a clang.  
  
"It's none of your business why I am here, Potter," she spat.  
  
"And it's none of your business why I am here, Umbridge," he spat back.  
  
They glared at each other, neither of them blinking.   
  
"My life's more important than yours, Potter."  
  
"Oh *really*?" he said, his teeth clenched, "and what do *you* spend your life doing? Croaking in pond water, I suppose? Care to enlighten me?" A few of the teachers turned their laughs into coughs, including McGonagall.  
  
"SHUT UP!" she roared at Harry.  
  
"No," he stated calmly. A few of the teachers laughed again. She rounded on them and started shouting about something. Harry sat behind her, staring furiously. He then took out his wand. McGonagall stared at it. "Potter..don't!" she said quietly.  
  
"Silencio!" he whispered, his wand pointing at Umbridge.   
  
The shouting stopped. Umbridge was still moving her mouth, but no sound came out. Harry put his wand down and returned to his potatoes as if nothing happened. The whole staff besides Dumbledore started laughing. Umbridge flushed and pointed at Harry, almost jumping up and down as she tried to shout something.  
  
Harry cupped his hand around his ear and leaned forward. "Did you say something, Umbridge? Can't hear anything..."  
  
Most of the staff continued laughing. One of the teachers performed the counter-charm on her and she started shouting again.  
  
"---YOU WANT TO GET EXPELLED, POTTER? I CAME HERE TO SEE IF THE RUMORS WERE TRUE--"  
  
"I don't think I can get expelled for doing magic at a school where you do magic, Umbridge," Harry snapped.  
  
"You nasty boy- at least I'm not so weak as to get captured by a little Death Eater and thrown into a cell without--"  
  
Harry was shaking with anger, he dropped his fork again and his hand longed to grab his wand and curse her.   
  
"--doing any magic..your parents would be soo disappointed, Potter! You nasty little liar, doing whatever you please--"  
  
Harry was breathing deeply, trying to control his extreme anger...  
  
"--you deserve what you got you stupid--"  
  
Harry stood up, grabbed his wand, his anger out of control, he shouted, "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?"  
  
Every goblet in the room exploded, spraying a few of the teachers, the wand clenched in his hand emitted a shower of red and gold sparks, and Umbridge turned a shade of purple and walked out of the Great Hall, mumbling. It had been a long time since he made something explode. Dumbledore and McGonagall reached up and pulled Harry back down in his chair because he was starting to get up and go after her. He sat there fuming for a second or two before he mumbled just enough for all the teachers to hear, "sorry for the goblet explosion."  
  
More goblets of pumpkin juice appeared for everyone, Harry was still breathing quite deeply and he buried his face in his hands with his elbows on the table. He pocketed his wand, sniffed with his slightly stuffy nose, and began to eat again. Harry had several platefuls of food before he was full. He had eaten so fast that many of the teachers were still eating. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were still in the room. Harry looked up at the ceiling and stared at it. The dog star, Sirius, was bright against the dark sky on the warm night. A few light clouds drifted over the crescent moon...  
  
"Harry?"   
  
Harry started and looked over towards his concerned-looking headmaster. Harry didn't even notice that everyone had finished eating and only Dumbledore and McGonagall stayed behind with Harry.  
  
"Sorry," he said, "I'm just glad to be home."  
  
Dumbledore smiled at him. "Professor McGonagall is going to escort you to the hospital wing--"  
  
"But I feel fine--" Harry protested.  
  
"I just want you to have a bit of a check-up. You will meet me in my office after Madam Pomfrey checks you over. The password is 'Muggle muffins.' Although I daresay you always seem to get the password right whether I tell you or not," he added, smiling. He stood up and exited the Great Hall.  
  
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and stood. Harry did as well.   
  
"Did you get enough to eat, Potter?" she asked.  
  
Harry nodded and they both walked towards the hospital wing. As they were about to exit the Great Hall, something large and feathery collided with his head.  
  
"OUCH!" he exclaimed angrily.  
  
McGonagall turned around to look at him. He glanced around as he rubbed the side of his head, trying to find the source of whatever just hit him. Then suddenly there was a hoot from behind him and something landed on his shoulder.   
  
"Hedwig..." he whispered. He stroked the snowy owl's wing. "Hey there..."   
  
She nibbled his finger affectionately and didn't leave his shoulder as they continued towards the hospital wing.  
  
When they reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfey hurried over to Harry and stared at Hedwig. Professor McGonagall wished Harry a good night and left.   
  
"Well..Mister Potter...what is that owl doing here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded.  
  
"Oh," he said stroking the owl again, "she won't leave my shoulder."  
  
Madam Pomfrey shrugged. After she checked him over, gave him some chocolate frogs to "help put a little meat on those bones" he left the hospital wing, Hedwig still on his shoulder. He reached the gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office more quickly than he expected and gave the password. The gargoyle leapt aside and Harry proceeded up to Dumbledore's office. When he reached the door, he rapped his knuckles on it. Dumbledore's voice came from the inside. "Come in, Harry," he said.  
  
Harry walked in and closed the door behind him. Dumbledore was standing beside Fawkes, who let out a quavering note when he saw Harry, and flew over to him. The phoenix rested on his other unoccupied shoulder, and Harry stroked both of the birds gently before looking over at Dumbledore, who smiled. "I see you found your owl," he said. Harry nodded.  
  
Dumbledore didn't beat around the bush any longer. "Now that you are staying here for the summer, Harry, you will be assigned a room. You will not sleep in the Gryffindor dormitories, but instead in a room that is just down the hall from here. There is a portrait of a phoenix there. The password to get into the room is 'television'. It is a muggle word that I am not too familiar with, but I am sure you are. Like during school, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds and so is the Restricted Section in the library. Otherwise, feel free to do whatever. You are allowed to practice Quidditch on the field if you like," Dumbledore finished.  
  
"But, sir, I don't have my broomstick..or clean clothes..or any of my books..or--" Harry remembered.  
  
"Remus Lupin brought your trunk, broomstick, your owl's cage, and any other thing you had with you before you were abducted by Death Eaters a year ago," Dumbledore said. He was looking at Harry with an odd expression that Harry couldn't figure out. Dumbledore then turned and walked across his office and returned with Harry's trunk, broomstick, and Hedwig's cage. Fawkes flew from Harry's shoulder to Dumbledore's with a small squawk.  
  
Harry smiled at it. "Thank you, Professor," he said as he took all of his possessions. Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"Harry," Dumbledore said as Harry was about to reach for the doorknob, "welcome home."  
  
Harry smiled again, turned back toward the door, and left the office.  
  
(A/N: Please review and please no flames!! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far and I will try to keep going with it...) 


	5. A Restless Night

(NOTE: All of the Harry Potter world is J.K. Rowling's!!! I just play around with the characters!)  
  
(A/N: Once again, I REALLY appreciate all of your kind reviews and your dedication:  
  
Jordan, jill, PhoenixPadfoot89, Gecisy Krieger, emiepatapouf, leaps, Elayne Sedai, Master Eldryn, ForceofHobbit. THANKS!)  
  
Chapter 5- A Restless Night  
  
Harry only had to walk a little bit to get to his room because it was on the same corridor as Dumbledore's office. When he reached the portrait of the phoenix (which blinked at him and looked a lot like Fawkes) he said the password, walked inside, and grinned.  
  
The room looked very comfortable. The floor was wooden (instead of stone) and very shiny, and a fireplace was on the left wall. The fire was casting a welcoming light over everything in the room. Two squashy and comfortable-looking armchairs was beside the fire, and over on the right wall was a large desk with a drawer and a wooden chair. Above it was a portrait of the exact room he was in. On the desk was a couple of candles, a Foe Glass, and some blank peices of parchment. Beside the desk and right beside the portrait hole was a metal coat rack. A fancy oriental rug was at his feet and it covered most of the middle of the room.   
  
The wall opposite of him was almost solid except for the archway in the middle and the two steps that led down into something else. Harry walked further on and down the two steps into a bedroom. In the center, against the wall, and facing him was a full-sized, neat bed. Beside it was a small table with a candle on it. On the right wall was a wooden door with a shiny brass handle. Beside it was a mirror. On the left wall was a window that gave him a good view of the Quidditch field, and a jug of water with a glass beside it sat on the window sill. He was also standing on another oriental rug. A closet was beside the window and there was a large trunk at the foot of his bed. He turned right and opened the door that was on the wall.   
  
It was a very clean bathroom, with a toilet, bathtub, a cabinet which Harry supposed had towels, bars of soap, and other bath supplies in it, and the floor was white tile. Harry exited this room and set his Hogwarts trunk beside the other trunk at the foot of his bed. Harry started unpacking his things and making himself comfortable. He sat on the bed to get a good feel of it and found that it was very comfortable. Harry was very pleased with this place. Soon, he was done unpacking everything. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for doing a good job at organizing everything. Harry walked up to the main room and sat in one of the squashy armchairs. He leaned back in it and sighed.   
  
He thought about how wonderful his room was. He hadn't expected anything this nice, and he thought it would have been smaller. He thought about how furious Voldemort probably was that Harry got away from his fortress. Harry couldn't wait to have contact with Ron and Hermione. He decided that he would write them letters soon.   
  
Snapping himself out of his thoughts, he stood and walked back down to his bedroom. After a quick bath, he changed into his pajamas and got into bed. The bed was nice and cool and he tried to concentrate on sleeping. Sleep didn't come. After what seemed like thirty minutes of his eyes closed, he opened them then stared at the clock on the table beside his bed. It was 10:55. Harry couldn't understand why he couldn't sleep. Nothing was bothering him, nobody that he knew of was in danger, all of his belongings were fine, Hedwig had left his shoulder hours ago and flew to the Owlery. He was certainly tired. He got out of bed and looked in the mirror. There were shadows under his green eyes and his eyelids drooped from the lack of sleep.   
  
He never slept much when he was in the Prison Chamber because the bed was uncomfortable, and he really needed sleep. It just wasn't coming. He grumbled furiously. He took off his pajamas and put on a dark green shirt and some jeans. He didn't bother putting anything on his feet. It was summer and the stone floors of Hogwarts were sure to be nice and cool on his bare feet. So, unable to sleep, he exited the portrait hole and walked down the corridor as quietly as possible. What Harry didn't know was that there was another person unable to sleep tonight. It was Dumbledore and he was standing outside in front of the stone gargoyle, invisible.   
  
He was slightly surprised to see Harry up and walking around, and watched Harry as he walked straight past him. Dumbledore noticed that Harry's eyelids drooped and there were shadows under his eyes. Harry stuck his hands in his pockets. Dumbledore wondered where Harry was going, so he decided to follow him. Halfway down the corridor, the hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled and he halted suddenly. Dumbledore stopped as well. Harry then spun around, his shadowy eyes looking up and down the (to him) deserted corridor. Then, after a last suspicious glance, turned and continued his walk down the hallway.  
  
Harry had the feeling someone was watching or following him. He was right, but he didn't know that. Dumbledore continued following him. He wondered vaguely where Harry was going and why he was up so late. Harry walked all the way down to the Entrance Hall and through the door that led down to the kitchens. Dumbledore followed. Harry reached out his hand and tickled to pear on the portrait. It giggled, turned into a handle, and Harry turned it. He walked inside and Dumbledore followed him silently. Something from the other end of the kitchens squeaked and ran straight at Harry.  
  
Harry, who was looking around, got a blow to the stomach that almost knocked the breath out of him and made him stagger backwards. He looked down into a pair of tennis ball-sized eyes and found that it was Dobby who was hugging him very tightly around the waist. Harry smiled and Dumbledore almost chuckled, but stopped himself.   
  
"HARRY POTTER, SIR, HARRY POTTER!! How glad Dobby is to see Harry Potter!" Dobby squeaked loudly.  
  
"How have you been, Dobby?" Harry asked the house-elf quietly, and Dumbledore noticed the tiredness in his voice.  
  
"Dobby's been very good, sir, very good! But, why is Harry Potter up so late?" he added, letting go of Harry.  
  
"I just came down to get some hot chocolate--"   
  
But before he could finish his sentence, house-elves were pressing around him, one carrying a large mug of hot chocolate, which Harry took with a "thanks" and the house-elves bowed and scurried away, leaving just Dobby, who was beaming.  
  
"Dobby must return to his work- it was nice seeing you again, Harry Potter!" he squeaked and rushed off.  
  
"You too, Dobby," he said with a smile. He then sat down with his hot chocolate, and Dumbledore sat beside him. Harry put his face in his hands and sighed tiredly, fighting off the yawn that wanted to come. Dumbledore took off his invisibility and asked quietly, "Can't sleep?"  
  
Harry jumped about a foot in the air from his position, his shadowy eyes widened, he slammed his hands on the table, and took in a sharp breath before looking beside him and seeing Dumbledore smiling at him. He calmed instantly but was still breathing hard.  
  
"I'm sorry I startled you, Harry. I was just outside of my office when I saw you walk by, looking very tired and upset, so I followed you," Dumbledore explained quietly.  
  
Harry shook his head. "No, I can't sleep...I don't know why..."  
  
"You look dreadfully tired, I must say. I trust you haven't slept for a while?" Dumbledore queried.  
  
Harry shook his head again. He brought up a hand and tried to flatten his hair, but it stayed stuck up in the back.  
  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he laughed softly as he watched Harry. "It's never lied flat before, has it? At least you don't have a beard to deal with..."  
  
Harry smiled and laughed. "No, it hasn't. My aunt and uncle shaved it off one time but it had all grown back the next morning."  
  
"You probably didn't know why, did you?"  
  
"Not then, but I know why now. I was quite shocked yet relieved all the same."  
  
"So, Harry, you cannot sleep? Perhaps your shouting match with Dolores Umbridge today left you unable to sleep?"  
  
Harry's green eyes grew dark. "She made fifth year my worst..she deserved to be yelled at..coming in and seeing if I was really back or not.." he mumbled with digust.  
  
"But I do not think you should go shouting at her-"  
  
"She started it-"  
  
"-and since she was in the Ministry-"  
  
"-wouldn't let me eat-"  
  
Harry's words broke off when he yawned. Dumbledore decided not to pursue the subject of Dolores Umbridge. "I have found a way for you to catch up with school, Harry. Yet it will require you to work very hard. This summer, you have a month or two to learn everything in a year. Yes, it will be extremely difficult, but it is possible. You will take all of your classes with your regular teachers--"  
  
"Even with Snape?" Harry blurted with disgust.  
  
"*Professor* Snape, Harry," Dumbledore corrected, thinking, 'doesn't he forget the Professor part every year?'  
  
Dumbledore nodded his head. "Yes, even with Professor Snape. Do you agree to do this, Harry?" he added.  
  
Harry reluctantly nodded his head, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Dumbledore stood up as Harry drank some of his hot chocolate, then Harry stood up as well.   
  
"You should try to get some rest, Harry. Tomorrow I will give you a schedule for your classes. I will see you tomorrow for breakfast," Dumbledore stated.  
  
"Good night, Professor."  
  
"Good night, Harry," Dumbledore replied with the twinkle still in his eyes.  
  
Dumbledore left and as Harry left right after him, Harry discovered that somehow Dumbledore had already dissapeared from view. 'How does he do that??' Harry thought, amused. He slowly walked back to his room, yawning what seemed like every other second. He wondered vaguely how in the world he was going to take sixth year in two months. 'Dumbledore will find a way- he always does,' he told himself.  
  
He went back to his room, changed into pajamas, and tried to fall asleep again. He was so tired..but once again he couldn't sleep. He almost yelled in frustration, so instead, he hit the pillow with his fist and stood up again. Maybe he didn't feel at home? 'No,' Harry thought. He shook his head and walked up into the main room, furious with himself, and took out his wand and twirled it with his fingers. He didn't know what to do. He had a feeling he was going to sleep in really late tomorrow. He pocketed his wand again and looked towards the desk where blank peices of parchment lay. He shrugged, thinking that maybe he should scribble on a peice, so he got up and as he reached the desk, he stretched out a hand to pick it up, but the parchment instead flew up in his hand.  
  
He shook his head, thinking maybe he was having hallucinations and such, so he reached a hand towards a quill on the desk. The quill flew up into his outsretched hand. He stood there for a moment, wondering what was going on. He looked around, took out his wand, and put it on the desk. He then reached out a hand to it, thinking about picking it up, when his wand zoomed into his hand. He pocketed his wand, put the quill and parchment on the desk, and walked back down to his bed. 'I'm losing my mind,' he thought. A wave of sleepiness took over him, and he collapsed on the bed, fast asleep.  
  
(A/N: Please review and please no flames! You will find out next chapter why things are zooming into Harry's hand...) 


	6. The Transfered Powers

NOTE: Harry Potter's not mine and it never will be, unfortunately. It's all the work of the great J.K. Rowling.   
  
(A/N: Thanks a bunch for the reviews! I appreciate them all a lot. I would have answered your questions, but I didn't want to spoil it for you...sorry!!! (and I have no idea how to reply!) I hope you enjoy this chapter- it's my longest yet I believe.)  
  
Chapter 6- The Transfered Powers  
  
Harry woke up when he felt the bright sunshine on his face, he threw the cover off of him and realized that he had fallen asleep with his glasses on. He felt good and refreshed. He changed into his clothes and attempted for the millionth time in his life to flatten his hair, but it would never lie down. He brushed his teeth, used the bathroom, and looked over at the clock beside his bed. 12:32.   
  
'What the?!!' Harry thought wildly. He hadn't slept this long before. The clock just had to be messed up. Harry jabbed it with his finger roughly. The numbers remained unchanged. He stared at it as it changed to 12:33. Still finding it hard to believe that it was this late, he headed out of the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall for some breakfast. 'Actually, you are going to eat lunch, Harry, because you slept so long,' he scolded himself.  
  
He yawned as he entered the Great Hall, to find that Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Flitwick were still eating their lunch. They all looked up from their conversation at the yawning Harry across the hall. Dumbledore motioned for Harry to sit in the chair he sat in yesterday up at the staff table. Harry made his way up to his chair and sat down in it hard. He smiled, wished the three professors a 'good morning' instead of a 'good afternoon', corrected himself, and was returned a 'good afternoon' from all of the professors.  
  
"Well, Mr. Potter, did you just wake up?" asked the tiny Professor Flitwick.  
  
Harry nodded and caught Dumbledore's twinkling eyes, and smiled again.  
  
"I suppose you feel better then?" Dumbledore said softly.  
  
"Yes, I do, but I didn't expect to--" he broke off as the spoon he was reaching for flew up in his hand. He stared at it, open-mouthed, then he remembered last night when the same thing happened with the parchment. He brought his gaze from the spoon to the professors around him, who were also staring.  
  
"Potter," McGonagall said breathlessly, "how did you do that?"  
  
Harry replied with a small shrug. He had no idea why everything kept flying up in his hands. They watched as Harry put the spoon back on the table, held out his hand, and thought about picking it up. The spoon zoomed smoothly into the palm of his outstretched hand.  
  
"I don't understand what's going on...it happened last night too..." he mumbled.  
  
"Utterly amazing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, almost bouncing in his chair.  
  
"Indeed, it is," Dumbledore said, his eyebrows raised.   
  
McGonagall didn't comment; she just stared.  
  
Harry began to eat his chicken soup quietly, trying to ignore the continuing stares from his teachers.  
  
"I want to see that again," McGonagall finally commented. Harry looked over at her. She conjured a quill and made it rest on the Ravenclaw house table. "Do that Summoning thing again," she ordered.  
  
Harry put down his spoon, held out his right hand towards the quill, and thought about it being in his hand. The quill flew right towards him, and he caught it gracefully and set it down on the table. Harry almost laughed at Flitwick and McGonagall's faces but stopped himself before he did. Dumbledore had snapped out of his staring and pulled out a peice of parchment. Harry stared at it as he unrolled it.  
  
Dumbledore gave the parchment to Harry and said, "your schedule for this remaining month and next month."  
  
Harry looked at all the classes that were cramped together in one day. Each day were double classes and they were for a short amount of time. Harry noticed there was a 10 minute break squeezed in between the double Charms and double Potions. At least he would have a break before he had to put up with Snape. Harry wondered whether he would have time to do anything during his summer. He then noticed that there was no Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
  
"You will still have lunch of course, and you may still sit where you are until term starts if you like. You will have Sunday's off but will have school on Saturday and have a slightly longer break of 20 minutes. As of now, you are due for History of Magic. You do not have to wear school robes and detentions can be appointed to you but no points can be taken off. You should be finished with all of your sixth year lessons on about August 28 which will leave you with a nice break before your seventh year term starts.   
  
You may have noticed that you do not have Defense Against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore paused for breath, "because Professor Lupin is on an important mission for the Order and is unable to teach. However, since you are the top of your class at Defense Against the Dark Arts, you do not need it as much as some. Mostly, sixth year dealt with small things last year. Professor Lupin will be back with us this year," Dumbledore explained quickly. Harry nodded, letting everything sink in.  
  
He was so glad that he would have Lupin for a teacher again for seventh year.   
  
"Do I start today?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yes," Dumbledore said simply.  
  
"Right," Harry said as he finished the last of his breakfast/lunch and then set off to double History of Magic.  
  
Professor Binns was as boring as ever but Harry managed to take a few notes about past troll wars. After History of Magic was Divination- in which Harry still had Firenze as a teacher. They studied the many movements of the planets and what they meant before Harry had to set off to Charms. (Transfiguration & Care of Magical Creatures were in the morning and Harry had slept so late that he had missed them).  
  
Professor Flitwick at first made Harry do one of his wandless/wordless Summoning things before they went off to other things. As Harry had his break, he went down to Hagrid's hut to visit Hagrid. Hagrid, who had heard of Harry's return, was extremely happy to see him as he knocked on the door. Harry was lifted from the ground into a bone-crushing hug but was let go of because he was starting to suffocate.   
  
"I thought I'd ne'er see yeh again, Harry!" he said.  
  
They were unaware that all of the teachers (except Snape and including Dumbledore) had come outside to talk together and stood watching Harry and Hagrid.  
  
"Harry," Hagrid said, "Fang's ran off with me meat an' I can't catch him. See 'em? Runnin' around with it? I'd use magic..but yeh know I'm not supposed ter.."   
  
Harry sighed and watched Fang run around with a large steak hanging from his mouth, running from Hagrid then around the house.  
  
"Err..Harry..can I ask yeh somethin'? Could yeh use magic on him to get him to come ter me?" Hagrid asked awkwardly.  
  
"Err..Hagrid I don't know..the only thing I know of to use is a Summoning Charm..." Harry trailed off.  
  
"Can yeh do that fer me please, Harry?"   
  
"But...I can't...he'll come flying towards me.."  
  
They continued, still not noticing the teachers listening in to their conversation and watching.  
  
"I'll catch 'im! Please?"  
  
"But Hagrid, I--"  
  
"Please? I don't wan' him eatin' it!"   
  
"Oh Alright. But you stay in front of me to catch him!!"  
  
"Thanks, Harry, alrigh' I'll stand in front..."  
  
He moved in front of Harry who took out his wand.  
  
"I heard yeh could do it withou' a wand...can yeh do that? I'd like ter see.."  
  
Harry sighed and put his wand back in his pocket. He should have known that this strange power would be told of to the teachers. He shook his head as he held out his right hand towards the bounding Fang.  
  
"I don't know about this, Hagrid..."  
  
"Jus' do it- it's alrigh'."  
  
Harry thought about Fang being in his hand (which is hard to think about..) and concentrated. Through mid-bound, Fang yelped but kept hold on the meat as he flew backwards towards Harry and Hagrid. He did several flips through the air, flailing around helplessly, before Hagrid reached out and caught the huge boarhound.  
  
It all happened very quickly. Fang dropped the meat as he flew into Hagrid's arms, Hagrid flew backwards with the dog and straight into Harry, who fell backwards with Hagrid and Fang on top of him. They all made some noise as Fang fell on Hagrid and Hagrid fell on Harry. Fang got up and slinked away, scared out of his wits, leaving the meat on the ground. Hagrid jumped up as quickly as possible and looked at Harry who could have swore that there was now a dent in the ground where he fell.  
  
Harry groaned with his eyes closed. 'Ouch...that hurt....don't just stand there Hagrid..' he thought.  
  
Hagrid bent down as the teachers came rushing across the lawn and stopped, staring at him.  
  
"Harry, I'm sorry...are yeh alrigh'?" Hagrid whispered worriedly, reaching out and setting Harry on his feet.  
  
Harry swayed, dizzy. He then stretched painfully as his back and neck gave a loud, nasty CRACK that sounded like it could be heard a mile away. Harry paused, grumbling with pain in his upper back. The teachers all gasped as the crack almost echoed around them.   
  
"I'm never Summoning anything again..." he mumbled angrily as everyone laughed. He tried to shoot them all a glare but he couldn't so he said a bit childishly, " 's not funny..."  
  
The laughter died a little bit and Harry started to waddle back towards the castle, while Dumbledore shouted from behind him- "Don't forget to stop by the hospital wing, Harry!"   
  
Harry rolled his eyes then did a thumbs up, holding it above his head for a couple of seconds while continuing his waddle towards the castle, hearing the teachers talking to Hagrid, probably about him and his strange ability to summon things, he figured. He didn't think he could make it to the hospital wing, so he sat on the stairs, massaging his back furiously and watching all of the teachers, even Hagrid, walking back towards him. Harry felt his back and looked at his hand. There was blood on it. He wanted to stand and panic a bit, but sitting felt much better. So, he sat there, wincing every time he moved his back, with bloodstained hands. He must have hit a rock in the ground that made his back bleed.   
  
He didn't want to even think about what his back looked like. The teachers stopped when they saw his bloodstained hands and his squinted eyes. "Harry?" A few of them were asking weakly.  
  
"What?" he said a bit impatiently. "Professors?" he added, trying to sound a bit softer than he felt.   
  
"Stand up, Potter," Professor McGonagall said quickly. Harry shook his head and swallowed. "Can't," he choked out painfully, staring at his bloodstained hands.  
  
She made to help him stand, but he shook his head again. "No- just leave me on the steps- DON'T!!! OUCH!"  
  
Professor McGonagall had pulled him up on his feet and Harry shot her a look of "why couldn't you have just left me there?"  
  
McGonagall pulled up his shirt and stared at his back, gasping. "For Heaven's sake, Potter!" she exclaimed.  
  
"What? It's not my fault I'm bleeding everywhere--"  
  
The other Professors were staring at his back, shaking their heads. Hagrid stood back, and had a look of guilt on his face.  
  
"It's not your fault, Hagrid, it's mine..." Harry started, squirming slightly.  
  
But Hagrid just shook his head and looked at the ground. On Harry's back was a huge gash that was pouring blood everywhere. A huge bruise almost as big as Harry's hands was around it. Professor McGonagall had Harry's blood on her hands from his shirt. She dropped his shirt and it slapped against his back uncomfortably as she noticed this. She stared at her hands and shivered involuntarily. Harry looked at her. His stomach was starting to hurt because of Hagrid hitting it. He wasn't angry with Hagrid, though. He looked at his watch and grunted, "Potions," and attempted to move again.  
  
"I don't think so, Harry Potter!!! Hospital wing you go!" Professor McGonagall scolded, staring at him as she held out her bloodstained hands to make sure no blood got on her robes.   
  
Harry snorted. That sounded awfully motherly of Professor McGonagall. He looked at her and adopted a ridiculous, childish voice. "Yes, mother!!" he said as if he was in some kind of army and taking orders from her. He grinned at her and it looked as if she was going to slap him upside the head. Instead she pointed towards the castle and said as if he couldn't hear properly, "Hos-pit-al Win-g!"   
  
"Alright...Alright...I'm going.." he murmered in defeat as he waddled up a few of the stairs, and on the last one, inhaled sharply as he almost tripped over it and look backwards with slight embarrassment at the teachers. Each one of them were watching with a raised eyebrow. "I'm going!" he reassured them, continuing his waddle as they started to talk to each other.   
  
When he finally reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey fussed over him and put some stinging stuff on his back that healed the gash immediately, but made Harry yell. When he was done, he made his way to the dungeons, where he met an irritable Professor Snape.  
  
"You're late, Potter. Do it again and it will automatically be detention. Sit," he said coldly.  
  
Harry glared at him slightly and sat, not even bothering to tell Snape that he just had his back busted open and Hagrid and Fang fall on top of him.  
  
Snape made him do a Pepper-Up Potion, which actually went well. Snape couldn't find anything wrong with it, so Harry went on to his rooms where he tried to concentrate on his pile of homework. He had gotten most of it done and was trying to concentrate on his Potions essay but when he got it about 3/4 done, he looked down to the clock beside his bed and it said 8:45. Harry was tired. He wanted to finish his essay, but sleep was on his mind. He dropped his quill and his head drooped. As his head fell on the hard wooden desk, it woke him up sharply. He managed to barely finish his essay before he got the strangest feeling.   
  
It was almost like a vision- outside of his door was Professor Dumbledore, examining his watch.  
  
He snatched out of the vision-like thing and looked towards the portrait hole. Something made him walk across the room and pull it open. Professor Dumbledore was standing outside, looking at his watch, but looked up as Harry stared at him.  
  
"Good Evening, Harry," he said, his eyes twinkling. "I suppose you were making your way out?"  
  
Harry stared blankly at him for a second. "No...I like...kind of saw you out here."  
  
Dumbledore looked a bit taken aback. That wasn't the answer he was expecting.  
  
"May I come in?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Sure," Harry said, stepping out of the way and allowing Dumbledore in.  
  
Dumbledore sat down in one of the squashy armchairs by the fire and motioned for Harry to do the same.  
  
Harry sat obediently in the chair across from him.  
  
"I will get straight to the point, Harry," he said immediately.  
  
Harry's brow furrowed. He wasn't in trouble- was he?  
  
"Strange things have been happening to you today. You have been summoning spoons, dogs-" Dumbledore's beard twitched- "and you had a vision that I was outside of your room."  
  
Harry nodded, "I don't understand why, though.."  
  
"Do you remember why you can speak Parseltongue?"  
  
"You told me that Voldemort transferred a power to me--"  
  
"I told you that Voldemort transfered *some* of his powers to you. More than one.."  
  
Harry stared at him. "Are you saying that these are some of his other powers?"  
  
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "It certainly seems so. Once again, he didn't give them to you intentionally. It seems that you are going through a stage in your life where you are becoming more powerful magically."  
  
"More....more...p-powerful?" Harry stammered, shocked.  
  
"Yes. I am surprised that you found that shocking. You are a powerful wizard, Harry. Possibly more powerful than me...than Voldemort..."  
  
Harry choked. "What? No Way....that's not possible!!"  
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, it is! You never thought yourself a poor wizard, did you? All the things you have done!!! You conquered the most powerful dark wizard there was when you were one year old!"  
  
"Yeah well..that's all anyone cares about me, isn't it? My scar?" he snapped, not really meaning to. He reached up and buried his face in his hands.  
  
Dumbledore dropped his cheery air and frowned. "You know perfectly well that's not true, Harry. Think. There are so many people who care for you as you are, and not for a slash across your head. I do, Harry," he added seriously, and Harry knew he was telling the truth. He couldn't explain how much those words meant to him- and they made him feel abruptly ashamed.  
  
Harry took his face out of his hands and looked at him. "I can't be more powerful than you can...I'm just-just- me. I mean, I'm obviously not normal. Talking to snakes, able to know that-" he glanced towards the portrait hole "-that Fawkes is outside of this room to deliver you a letter, summoning things...getting in fights with Dark Lords..."  
  
Dumbledore crossed the room, surprised, and opened the portrait hole. Sure enough, Fawkes fluttered in, with a letter. He dropped it in Dumbledore's hand and flew away, up to his perch in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore looked at the letter then pocketed it. He returned to his seat, Harry looking like a deflated balloon. Dumbledore peered at him over his half-moon glasses.  
  
"Your most powerful magic is starting to come to you..maybe wobbly at first, but you will staighten out. Who knows, maybe you will turn out to be an Animagus..."  
  
Harry gaped at him. "Me? An Animagus? I mean...yeah in my dreams! But really, it takes years to become one..."  
  
Dumbledore looked thoughtful again for a moment. "There may be a way that you can become an unregistered Animagus in a short period of time. That is, if you are interested?"   
  
Harry jumped out of his chair, beaming. "Sure I would! When can I start? Now?" he said eagerly.  
  
"Well, Harry, I don't guess it would hurt to get some of the potion--"  
  
"Yes! Right now?"  
  
"Alright..alright... right now...I am warning you there might be side effects..it is a rare potion to come across. Not many people want to put up with making it, but I assure you that I can, for I am afraid Professor Snape may not do it. I will have to perform a few spells on you after the potion is taken, and by...hmm..July 31 you should be able to transform. Let's just say it's a birthday present from Hogwarts."  
  
Harry was beaming so wide that he thought his mouth might fall off. "How long will the potion take?"  
  
"It should be ready tonight- and since it takes a good deal of power to make, I should probably get started immediately. Would you like to wait here?"  
  
Harry nodded, and excitedly started looking around the room. "Thank you!" he called after the retreating headmaster.  
  
Dumbledore turned and smiled before he left. Harry was left very excited, thinking about what animal he would turn into. Maybe a stag, like his father? He hoped that he wouldn't turn into a bunny. That would be humiliating. Or maybe a cat, like Professor McGonagall?   
  
Three hours passed and Harry was pacing the floor. Then suddenly he got a vision. It was Dumbledore, he was holding a vile and was approaching the portrait hole....Harry ran across the room, and opened the door and smiled at Dumbledore, who smiled back.  
  
"It is ready, Harry," he said.  
  
Harry let Professor Dumbledore in and Dumbledore gave him the vile then took out his wand.  
  
"Alright, go ahead and drink it," he said to Harry.  
  
Harry excitedly drained the vile. The potion was nasty, it almost made him gag, but he swallowed it and looked at Dumbledore, who was muttering complicated words and pointing his wand at Harry. Harry felt a strange, chilling sensation over his body. He shivered. When Dumbledore was done, he was shaking madly and his teeth were chattering.  
  
"P-P-P-Pr-r-o-f-e-ss-or?" Harry's words shook just like him.  
  
"Here," Dumbledore picked up a big thick blanket off of the back of the squashy armchair and gave it to Harry. "You will be quite cold tonight, but tomorrow should be normal. You might get a little sick feeling every once in a while but you shouldn't get totally sick. You may have other strange side effects but nothing life-threatening. Good luck, Harry. I will see you tomorrow."  
  
"T-T-Th-Thank y-y-you v-v-ery m-m-much!!" Harry said.  
  
"Your welcome, Harry," he replied, turning and leaving.   
  
Harry got in bed, very cold, but ready for any side effects. As soon as he curled up under the covers, he fell asleep.  
  
(A/N: Whew...that chapter made me tired. I hope you are still enjoying it so far. Please review and no flames!!) 


	7. Life In Another Form

Here's questions from Chapters 5 & 6's answers:  
  
Forgotten One: Ron and Hermione have learned about him already (because Dumbledore contacted them) and so do the other Weasley's. But Harry will see them next chapter.  
  
Devonny Rose: He sees Ron and Hermione next chapter. Thanks for the comments!  
  
potter_man1: Ships are R/H. None others, at least so far.  
  
Everyone: THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! And your wonderful comments! Please R/R this one..this chapter may be kind of strange so forgive me and my stupidness :-). It's gonna be long too...so I hope it doesn't get boring!!!!  
  
Chapter 7- Life in Another Form  
  
  
  
It was 7 days ago when Harry took his Animagus potion. Harry only had mild side effects, which were just a little sick feeling every once in a while, like Dumbledore explained. None of the teachers knew of Harry's soon-to-be Animagus ability except Dumbledore and McGonagall, who would tell Harry how to transform today.   
  
He had been waiting for this so long, and thought about it all the time, all during his classes (which were going by fast) and through his lunches, breakfasts, and dinners with the staff. Today was the big day, and Professor Dumbledore had asked Harry to be down at the Quidditch field on his 10 minute break between Charms and Potions. When it was that time, Harry practically ran down to the Quidditch field, where Dumbledore and McGonagall were standing there watching him.   
  
He skidded to a halt in front of them and grinned, panting.  
  
"Catch your breath, Harry. I daresay that you should be breathing regularly before you transform. I decided to take this situation outside in case you turn into something- er- large.." Dumbledore explained.  
  
"Like a dragon? I sure hope not. Yet I would hate to be a worm, too," he added with slight worry, beginning to breath normally again.  
  
"Let's hope not, Potter. Are you ready?" Professor McGonagall asked.  
  
Harry set his stuff down, took off his glasses, nodded, and waited.   
  
"Alright, Potter, think about changing into something else, think about transforming. Close your eyes," McGonagall added.  
  
Harry closed his eyes, thinking hard about changing. He remained very still and it was several seconds before he felt a melting sensation, then he felt very fluffy. He opened his eyes.  
  
He was down low, but not too low, about waist-height to Dumbledore and McGonagall. He felt something sticking out of his rear and turned his head quickly. It was a long, furry tail. He was a pure black animal. He realized he had four legs. The erect ears were on top of his head, he had long teeth and a long tongue. He looked down at his feet and flexed his toes, which were just like a canine's. He looked up at Dumbledore and McGonagall who were both beaming. Dumbledore conjured a mirror and held it down to Harry. Harry looked into his reflection and his eyes widened.  
  
He was a pure black wolf, with startingly green eyes. He was quite a handsome wolf, with his jet-black fur shining in the sunshine.   
  
"Look at those eyes," Dumbledore said softly, tilting his head to the side. "You've still got that untameable black hair, I'm afraid," he joked.  
  
McGonagall was staring at Harry proudly.  
  
Harry looked up at them, opened his mouth to speak, but a strange, yelpish bark came out. He then grinned, his long teeth showing, then he wagged his tail and attempted to walk. It felt strange at first, but he quickly learned how to move his feet. He then took off at a trot, then began to run.   
  
He was *fast*. It felt like he was flying on the ground- a wonderful feeling. He ran like lightning around the Quidditch field then back to his two Professors. They had been watching him. He sat down on his haunches in front of them, wagging his tail. His sense of smell and hearing was greatly increased, and he could pick up almost any noise or scent. He panted slightly.  
  
Dumbledore smiled down at him. "Are you happy with your animal, Harry?"  
  
Harry nodded, his wolfish head bobbing up and down vigourously.  
  
"Are you ready to change back?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Harry stared at him then looked away, sighing. He wasn't ready to change back.   
  
"You will have to change back eventually. Remember, you can change back into an animal any time you want!"  
  
Harry nodded, and Professor McGonagall spoke.  
  
"Alright, Potter. Think about being a person again, close your eyes."  
  
Harry closed his eyes, thinking about being Harry again. He felt that melting sensation again and found himself in human form, sitting on the ground. He stood up and brushed off his robes, beaming.  
  
"That was great!!" he exclaimed as he put his glasses back on.  
  
"We're glad that you are pleased with it, Harry. Now. I don't believe you should tell anyone about you being an Animagus except for Ron or Hermione. Understood?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Yes, Professor," Harry answered automatically.  
  
"Now. I believe you are due for Potions?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alright. Good Afternoon, Harry, and Happy Birthday."  
  
"Yes, Good Afternoon, Potter, Happy Birthday," McGonagall jumped in.  
  
"Good Afternoon, Professors, and Thank you," Harry replied, grinned at them, and went back up to the castle.  
  
He made his way to the dungeons, and he was just on time. He walked in and sat down at his desk, waiting. Professor Snape appeared a couple of minutes later, waved his wand at the board, where ingredients appeared. "I have more important things to do, Potter. So, do your potion and leave a sample on my desk when you are done." He left back into his office.  
  
Harry shrugged and began to do his potion. He messed up twice, and managed to get the third one done alright (in his opinion) and left a vile on Snape's desk. He then turned to leave, walking back to his rooms and in there, he changed into the jet-black wolf and curled up in one of the squashy armchairs, letting the cool breeze of the open window ruffle his untidy, yet soft, hair. He smelled like the good-smelling soap that he uses. He had almost fallen asleep...  
  
He was in the graveyard again...Cedric was dead, lying on the ground with a blank face...Voldemort's scarlet eyes were coming nearer, the air was cold.. A wicked smile was on his face, he whispered, "happy birthday--you're dead..." Harry screamed, struggling to get away.  
  
He woke abruptly, realizing that he really was yelling, but it was more of a howl, since he forgot he was still in wolf form. All the hair on his back was raised and his tail was tucked under him. He stopped yelp-howling and jumped out of his chair, trotting to look at the clock beside his bed. It was 9:04. He turned around, feeling jumpy. Everything was so threatening all of a sudden.  
  
He was aware of someone approaching the portrait hole. He knew he should change, but he couldn't. The hole opened quickly, and someone stepped through. Harry's hackles raised, he bristled all over, showed his teeth, put his ears back, and tucked his tail under him. He snarled, jumping back. When the man moved out of the shadows, he realized it was Albus Dumbledore.  
  
Harry stopped bristling, stopped showing his teeth, but he kept his ears and tail down. He was still panicking. "Harry?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Harry started whining, afraid that it would have been Voldemort coming to his room before he had realized it was Dumbledore. Harry crawled towards Dumbledore, frightened. "What's wrong, Harry? I heard you making noise..." he trailed off, looking down at the cowering wolf that was Harry.  
  
Harry, who was incredibly weak somehow, started feeling dizzy, before he fainted, falling against Dumbledore's leg. Dumbledore stumbled a bit, but regained his balance and bent down to the unconscious wolf. Dumbledore picked the wolf up, alarmed and aware of how light he was. Harry's tongue was sticking out, his whole body hanging limply. He carried Harry up to his office and set him on the couch in his study. He set some water beside the wolf on the floor and waited for him to wake up.   
  
Not long after Dumbledore had sat down, about 15 minutes, Harry's eyes opened. He looked around and on the floor, not yet seeing Dumbledore. Harry spotted the water on the floor, jumped off of the couch and sniffed it suspiciously, then drank some of it. He looked behind him, his ears set forward. His nose twitched and his tail wagged. Dumbledore was dozing in his chair. Harry walked over to him and nudged Dumbledore's hand with his nose. Dumbledore's eyes snapped open and they landed on Harry.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.  
  
Harry nodded, avoiding eye contact with his headmaster.  
  
"I believe that you should sleep here tonight. I cannot take you to the hospital wing, for I do not want Madam Pomfrey to know you are an Animagus. There is a couch in my bedroom that you can sleep on. If anything is bothering you, don't hesitate to wake me up."   
  
Harry nodded a bit guiltily and followed Dumbledore back to his bedroom. Dumbledore knew that Harry felt guilty, but didn't say anything about it. He showed Harry the couch and told him that he should stay in wolf form until tomorrow. Dumbledore got into bed as Harry jumped on the couch, curling up and looking out of the open window across the room. "Good night, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly.  
  
Harry replied with three small barks that sounded almost as if he had said, "Good night, Professor."  
  
Dumbledore watched the wolf for a while as it glanced around, curling up and twitching every once in a while. It sighed, sat up for a second, and looked down at its paws, yawning quietly. It sat still for a moment, staring at them window looking almost as if it were day dreaming at night. Dumbledore shifted a bit and it seemed to stir Harry out of his thoughts. It lied down on its back, closing its eyes with all four of his feet in the air, looking ridiculous.  
  
Harry felt his headmaster's eyes on him and he flipped over to a regular position again. As he curled up on the couch, this time he fell asleep. Dumbledore fell asleep as well.  
  
In the morning, at about 5:30, Dumbledore woke up and sat up in bed. He glanced over at the jet-black wolf, who was still curled up in a ball on the couch. Dumbledore always woke up early, and today was no different, so he got off the bed and looked over at Harry again, who didn't budge. He began walking across the room very quietly. As he shut the window, Harry twitched his long legs but continued sleeping. He opened the door, which creaked, and Harry shifted again, but only stretched out.   
  
Dumbledore walked into the main part of his office and sat at his desk, going over some paperwork.  
  
At about 7:00, Harry woke up, still curled up on the couch. Harry stood and stretched out, yawning. As he jumped off of the couch, he noticed that the claws on his paws clicked against the stone floor. He quietly nudged the creaky door open and walked down to Dumbledore's main office.  
  
Dumbledore was writing a letter to someone, concentrating quite hard. Harry didn't want to disturb him, so he sat on his haunches and silently watched him.   
  
Dumbledore noticed the vivid green eyes and looked up, smiling. "Good morning," he said pleasantly. "Come and sit. When I am done with this letter, we will head to breakfast." He motioned towards the chair across from him.  
  
Harry padded across the room swiftly, jumping into the chair and sitting in it, his ears brought forward and watching Dumbledore's quill scratching across the peice of parchment. After only a few more minutes, Dumbledore gave the letter to Fawkes, who was gone in a flash. He turned to Harry.  
  
"Ready?" he asked.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Then change back to human form and we will be on our way."  
  
Harry stood up in his chair and jumped out of it, on his way down he transfered into Harry Potter again, landing on his two feet on the ground impressively. He strode towards the door and opened it for Dumbledore, who said "thank you" politely and they both headed down to the Great Hall. When Dumbledore opened the doors to the Great Hall, though, they found it empty. Dumbledore let out a "hm" of polite surprise and he and Harry made their way to the their seats at the staff table.  
  
Harry got through eating quite quickly and stood. "Well," he said, "I should change my clothes, take a shower, and get to my classes. It would all be much faster if I could run around being a wolf," Harry wished out loud.  
  
Dumbledore shrugged, "I guess it wouldn't hurt today to run from here to your room. I doubt anyone will see you. Of course, it is alright for Professor McGonagall to see you. But hurry, Harry."  
  
Harry smiled at him. "By the way, sorry for making you take me up to your rooms. It was comfortable, though," he added.  
  
"Ah...it was no problem. Besides, I couldn't have left you lying on the floor, could I?"  
  
"Well, I guess not..."  
  
"Don't worry. It was no trouble at all."  
  
"Alright...but thanks, Professor, for letting me stay."  
  
"You're very welcome, Harry."  
  
Harry turned into the jet-black wolf and started to run across the hall between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Dumbledore called his name and he halted, spinning around.  
  
"If I ever need to call you in dog form, I will call you by Shadow, alright?" Dumbledore told him.  
  
Harry nodded and turned, running out of the Great Hall.  
  
It felt good to be running again in wolf form. He was silent when he ran, except for the slight clatter of his nails hitting the floor. When he reached his room, he prepared for class, and hurried down to Transfiguration in wolf form (even though he knew Dumbledore didn't think it was a good idea to) and changed back as soon as he walked into Professor McGonagall's classroom.  
  
"Good Morning, Potter," she said, and didn't yell at him for walking around in wolf form and just now changing back.   
  
The day passed quickly.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
In what seemed no time, it was August 28 and Harry's last day of his "sixth-year summer". Harry had learned a lot in a short period of time. He asked Dumbledore if he could see Ron and Hermione before term started, and Dumbledore told Harry that he has written a letter to Ron and Hermione to ask if they would meet Harry in Diagon Alley on the 29th. Remus Lupin had volunteered to take Harry.  
  
Harry had agreed, and today after his very last class (Potions) he lay on his bed, excited about tomorrow when he would be able to see his two best friends. At the Prison Chamber (which Harry tried not to think about often, but he did have nightmares about it sometimes) he had stayed a year, but it had felt like 20 years. He wondered why the Order didn't try to rescue him earlier from that place.  
  
He lazily stood up and went to take a shower, then changed before he climbed into bed again and blew out the candle beside his bed. He closed his eyes and thought about tomorrow, where all he could go with Ron, Hermione, and Remus. Before he knew it, he was asleep...  
  
It was 8:01 and Harry was sleeping with his legs drew up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His chin was almost touching his knees and he was completely covered by blanket except for a tuft of his hair sticking out from under the covers.  
  
Professor McGonagall entered his room and searched for him. She hoped she wouldn't run into her student while he was changing clothes or something unpleasant. She snuck down to Harry's bedroom and looked at the bed where the lump was and realized that he was still sleeping. Rolling her eyes, she continued her silent walking towards the bed and looked down. Only a little bit of Harry's jet-black, untidy hair was showing.   
  
She pulled back the covers and stared down at the sleeping Harry who was still in his curled up position. McGonagall reached out her hands and shook the boy's shoulder. "Potter," she said. He didn't move.  
  
"Potter, wake up," she tried again, shaking his shoulder.  
  
He mumbled something that sounded oddly like, "monkeys got my wand" but didn't wake up.  
  
"What?" she said impatiently. She shook him a little harder, "Potter! Get up!"  
  
He stretched out his legs and reached out his hands to pull up the cover...  
  
"I don't think so!" she snapped and pulled the cover back and out of his reach. He groaned.  
  
"Oh stop making such a fuss. Get up, Potter! You need to eat before you leave!"   
  
He remained silent. McGonagall was starting to get quite agitated. She raised her wand and it emitted a loud BANG! idenitical to a gun.  
  
Harry yelled and jerked himself into a sitting position, his eyes wide and his breathing heavy. "Whazzin? What happe- what was that?"  
  
"About time, Potter," McGonagall said waspishly. "Get out of bed. And quit looking at me like that."  
  
Harry kept the "what are you doing here?" gaze until he remembered. "Diagon Alley!!!!" he said loudly, scrambling out of bed and almost falling out of it in the process.  
  
McGonagall would have said, "No duh!" but knew it would sound immature, so she turned and left.  
  
She spotted Dumbledore in the hallway. "Ah..just got Harry up?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," she said heavily, "and had to give him a heart attack at the same time."  
  
"Why is that?"   
  
"He was stubborn at first, but I made a surprisingly loud noise with my wand and now he is as awake as anyone can be."  
  
"Ah..I see.."  
  
"Is Remus here already?" McGonagall inquired.  
  
"Yes, he is. He is ready whenever Harry is. I should tell Harry now.." Dumbledore said, walking straight to Harry's room.  
  
Harry knew he was coming (just like he saw McGonagall coming before he started dreaming about monkeys) but didn't have enough time to answer the door. Dumbledore walked in and spotted Harry immediately, who was rummaging around the main room with a toothbrush in his mouth, growling with frustration.   
  
He reached up, grabbed his toothbrush, and brushed his teeth a little more, before disappearing and coming back toothbrushless.   
  
"Where in the world is the bloody thing?" he said loudly, not even noticing Dumbledore watching.   
  
Harry spotted what he was looking for and held out a hand to it. It came towards him and Harry caught it. He took out his wand and held it to the parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good..." he said.   
  
The familiar lines and words came onto the Marauder's Map. He stared at his room on the map and saw the tiny dot labeled "Albus Dumbledore" behind him. Harry turned and looked straight at Dumbledore. "Good morning, Professor, I was just going through my things, looking for this," he said, waving the map in his left hand and holding his wand in his right.   
  
"Good morning, Harry," Dumbledore replied kindly, "I was just going to tell you that Remus Lupin is here to pick you up. Are you ready to go?"   
  
Harry nodded and pocketed the Marauder's Map. He just wanted to bring it in case. Dumbledore turned and left, Harry right behind him.  
  
"He is in my office waiting. You know, Harry," he lowered his voice, "you could enter in your animal form and give your professor a surprise..."   
  
"Can I?" Harry whispered back excitedly.  
  
Dumbledore nodded as Harry pocketed his glasses and changed into the black wolf. When they got to the top of Dumbledore's staircase, Dumbledore opened the door, and there sat Remus Lupin.  
  
(A/N: Please review, no flames! I hope you are enjoying things so far. Next chapter you will get to see Ron and Hermione, as well as Lupin.) 


	8. Diagon Alley & Quiet Conversations

~Okay, if you are confused about the story or anything I answered a few questions on the review page. Be sure to R&R this one too!! Thanks again for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this one!!!!  
  
Chapter 8- Diagon Alley & Quiet Conversations  
  
Remus looked up as soon as Dumbledore entered. Harry walked in and sat down beside Remus and looked up at him, wagging his tail. Remus curiously patted Harry on the head and didn't ask Dumbledore why he had just brought a wolf into his office.  
  
"Well, are you ready to go?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly, his eyes twinkling.  
  
Remus stared at him. "Yes," he answered slowly for the second time today, "I just have to wait for Harry."  
  
Harry looked up at him and looked him right in the eye. Dumbledore's eyes were still twinkling.  
  
"Why? He is right beside you.." Dumbledore trailed off.  
  
"What?" Remus jumped out of his seat and stared at the wolf. "Oh my," he said, a look of dawning comprehension on his face, yet looking surprised all the same. He pointed a finger at Harry. "That's...you're....Harry?" he stammered.  
  
The wolf nodded, wagging his tail.   
  
"You're an Animagus!?" Remus said, awestruck.  
  
The wolf nodded again, standing up.  
  
"Amazing..." Remus said softly, surveying the wolf. "I want to see you change back..."  
  
Harry changed back as soon as Remus said it and grinned. Remus smiled and hugged him.   
  
"How long have you been working up to this?" Remus asked, releasing Harry.  
  
"Since...around the end of July," Harry answered casually.  
  
"The end of July?" he said. "But it takes a year to become an Animagus!"   
  
"Ah..I did it another way," he replied, smiling at Dumbledore.  
  
Remus decided not to question him any further.  
  
They left Dumbledore's office and were in Diagon Alley via a Portkey in what seemed like no time.  
  
Diagon Alley was as cheerful and inviting as usual, with many people walking around with their children or by themselves, always with smiles on their faces or looks of pure excitement.  
  
First, the two of the went to Gringotts, where Harry took out some galleons, sickles, and knuts and pocketed them. Remus had been given a Hogwarts letter before he left, and they were about to go to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, before Harry had the vision.  
  
It was Ron and Hermione, behind him and coming towards him. Harry tapped Remus on the shoulder. "Professor, Ron and Hermione are coming from that way," he said quietly, gesturing to a point over his shoulder.  
  
Remus turned and looked around. Harry did so as well. Sure enough, Ron and Hermione appeared from where Harry was pointing. Hermione burst into tears at the sight of him, and hugged him very tight when she reached him.  
  
"Oh, Harry!" she sobbed, "I was so worried! I thought I'd never see you again! Ohh..my!'  
  
Harry patted her on the back and when she finally released him, Ron greeted him with a shake of the hand and a quick hug."It's good to see you again, mate," Ron said happily.  
  
"You too!" Harry replied, grinning.  
  
"Alright, Harry, Ron, Hermione? You three ready to go?" Remus spoke up.  
  
All three of them nodded. All four of them talked about what seemed like everything- from what they did for summer to how life's been without him. He told them about the Prison Chamber and how he acted insane the whole time, and told them about his summer at Hogwarts taking sixth year.   
  
"Sixth year was horrible without you," Hermione had said, with Ron nodding in agreement.  
  
Harry's heart lightened considerably, as well as his money bag, as he purchased all of his things for seventh year. A curious question was bugging him.  
  
"Professor, do we learn to Apparate this year?" he asked Remus.  
  
Remus hesitated for some reason. "Yes, I believe you do. To be fully able to Apparate you have to take your test though."  
  
Harry didn't reply. What if he was splinched when he took his test? He shuddered at the thought.  
  
Their feet began to hurt after hours of walking around, and after Ron promising he would send him an owl, and Hermione's quick hug, he and Remus got ready to go. Harry realized that he had forgotten to tell Ron and Hermione about being an Animagus. He told himself he would just tell them when they arrived at Hogwarts.   
  
Remus and he took the Portkey back and they landed in Dumbledore's office, where Harry's sore feet wouldn't hold him up and he fell against Remus, who didn't catch him this time. Harry fell to the ground with a groan and his books he just purchased toppled on top of him.   
  
Remus soon had to leave as well, and after giving Harry a quick goodbye, was off to Hogsmeade where he could Apparate. Harry had two days of resting his sore feet before he had to start his seventh and last year.   
  
For the first time it seemed, Harry was worried about what would happen to him after he got out of Hogwarts. He wondered if he could get a house in Hogsmeade, and be able to visit Hogwarts whenever he liked. He wondered if he was ever going to start a family. If so, who would he marry? Oh Merlin, the future was full of so many wonders.  
  
He thought about Ron and Hermione's reactions when they found out about him being an Animagus. He bit down a laugh as he thought of what Ron's face would look like; probably of jealousy or satisfaction. Hermione would be surprised, but also worried as well, and will probably suggest he get registered. But Harry didn't want to be a registered Animagus. He figured that someday, his ability to turn into a sly, unknown wolf may come in handy.  
  
As he lay in bed later on, he slept better than he had slept in a year.   
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
The next morning, Harry was so comfortable that he didn't want to get out of bed. He definetely was not a morning person, for he wanted to fall back asleep, but sleep wasn't coming back. Every other day this week, he would have a nightmare, but last night was not one. After thinking about yesterday for a while again, he grudgingly got out of bed. He glanced at the clock. 8:47.  
  
The days were starting to get a little cooler, now that September was so near, so the floor was cold and a bit of a shock as he stepped on it. As he brushed his teeth, he looked at his reflection and automatically attempted to flatten his unruly mop of hair (which never flattened, so he didn't even understand why he tried to flatten it all of the time).  
  
The Great Hall was empty when he entered it. He ate his breakfast in silence and was not interrupted. He had no idea what he was going to do today. He figured that he should go visit Hagrid, but glanced out of the window in one of the corridors after breakfast and it looked as if no one was home. It started to sprinkle a bit, but luckily it didn't rain. Harry didn't want the rain to spoil his fairly good mood.  
  
As he was on the corridor back to his room, he stopped in his tracks and hid around the corner, listening closely. He had heard his name in a conversation. He barely stuck his face around the corner. Down the hall, right outside of Dumbledore's office, was Dumbledore, Lupin, and Mrs. Weasley. Harry's heart leapt. He hadn't seen Mrs. Weasley in soooo long...He hid his face around the corner again.  
  
"--I just don't think another burden should be put on his shoulders," Mrs. Weasley was saying.  
  
"Molly," Dumbledore said quietly, "if he wants to after he is asked, I don't think he would--"  
  
"But I know he won't refuse, Dumbledore!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted.  
  
"If he wants to do this, I don't think we should keep it from him," Lupin said a bit sternly.  
  
Harry heard Mrs. Weasley sigh impatiently. "But he's been through so much..." she said almost pleadingly.  
  
"I know," Dumbledore said heavily, "but he would be a wonderful person to have for this. He is the only one who can truly defeat Voldemort, as you know," he added apologetically.  
  
Harry wanted to know what was going on, but his feet were glued to the spot.  
  
"His achievements even at such a young age are legendary," Lupin said quietly.  
  
"Well," Mrs. Weasley said, defeated, "I guess I need to be going. Arthur is waiting for me."  
  
She started to walk down the hall. Harry's eyes widened and he unglued his feet, silently rushing towards his room.   
  
"Television!" he whispered hurriedly. Mrs. Weasley's footsteps were so near...  
  
He jumped inside and closed the door. He heard Mrs. Weasley turn the corner and walk right past his portrait hole. His heart was thumping wildly, and he leaned against the portrait hole, gasping for air.  
  
For a moment he was so afraid that he would be caught eavesdropping...  
  
'What were they talking about?' he thought, bewildered.  
  
A tapping on the window in his bedroom startled and distracted him. He ran over to it and opened it. Pigwidgeon leaped in and hovered around his head, hooting annoyingly.  
  
"Hey Pig!" Harry said, grinning. He caught the minute owl and untied the letter from his leg, recognizing Ron's untidy scrawl.  
  
He opened the letter and Pig flew out of the window again.   
  
  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
  
  
I'm glad that you got a chance to stay at Hogwarts for the summer instead of the Dursley's. I wish I could have stayed there too, but I know Mum wouldn't have let me. I had a great time in Diagon Alley yesterday, and I told you I would write you a letter! I really don't have much to say, because everything I needed to tell you I told you yesterday. Pig woke me up early this morning and I threw a wad of parchment at him and it knocked him off his perch. If he's uncoordinated when he gets to you, that's why.  
  
You know that I am the new Quidditch Captain this year, because Angelina left school in our fifth year. You do want to be Seeker again, don't you? I don't think that Gryffindor Quidditch isn't the same without the Boy-Who-Lived catching snitches (just kidding!)  
  
Don't bother writing me back because I will see you tomorrow- I had to write this quick because Ginny wants to borrow Pig to owl Dean Thomas. I wasn't going to let her, but she threatened me and I decided to give in. (She *can* be a bit scary sometimes, you know?) Anyway, I've got to go, mate.  
  
Your friend,  
  
Ron  
  
  
  
Harry started laughing. Pig was always uncoordinated, whether he got knocked off his perch with a wad of parchment or not. Tonight, he decided, he was going to move up to the Gryffindor dormitories and spend the rest of the day packing.  
  
(A/N: Next Chapter, the Hogwarts Express arrives and school begins. Sorting, feast, etc is in next chapter. Please review -- no flames!) 


	9. Seventh Year Begins

~~YAY! I love reviews. All of them are awesome! The more the merrier! Anyway, here's the seemingly very long chapter 9, where school starts.   
  
Griever-lme: LOL I'm not really sure if Harry's gonna pair up with anyone in his story- but if he does I assure you it will probably be with Ginny.   
  
Chapter 9- Seventh Year Begins  
  
The fall's evening sunset was one of the most beautiful. The dancing sunlight played across the dormitories, towers, and corridors of Hogwarts. Harry was told the time of the arrival of the Hogwarts Express, the train that carried Hogwarts students to and from Platform 9 3/4. Harry was excited, and he couldn't help showing it.  
  
He had spent the whole day waltzing around the school, humming, and visiting Hagrid. Hagrid had offered Harry some treacle fudge, which he politely declined and hurried from the hut as soon as possible.  
  
All of the teachers had been in their office all day (according to the Marauder's Map) and Harry seemed to be the only one roaming the halls. About five minutes before the arrival of the train, Harry ran through the corridors and towards the Entrance Hall.   
  
The teachers (except for Firenze, the centaur Divination teacher, and Hagrid) were finally standing in the Entrance Hall, talking. Harry ran straight past them, his robes swirling dramatically behind him in an elegant fashion. All of the professors looked up and watched Harry halt right at the top of the stairs outside, who was listening for the train's puffing sound with an alert expression on his face.  
  
The gentle autumn breeze ruffled his already untidy hair, making his robes sway, his eyes slightly squinted against the sunset. To most of the teachers, for some strange reason, Harry had a wise and experienced look about him as he was patiently waiting for the train.  
  
Sounds of an approaching train came, and Harry's wise look turned into a grin. As the scarlet Hogwarts Express screeched to a stop, Harry took off again at top speed, jumping almost completely over the stairs and hitting the ground running. Harry had ran past the thestral-pulled carriages and looked up and down the scarlet train, trying to spot Ron and Hermione. Many first years appeared out of the train, looking around, frightened.   
  
Harry recalled his first time arriving at Hogwarts. He was just as nervous as they were. Second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh year students appeared next out of the train. Harry snapped out of his thoughts and ran through the crowds, and got the vision. Evidentally, he had went passed Ron and Hermione. They were Head Boy and Girl now, so they had their own compartment on the train.   
  
He was faintly aware of almost everyone throwing him amazed and frightened looks, some were of hatred, others of relief. Harry knew why, for he hadn't been seen all last year, but he didn't care though. He turned around and headed towards the direction of where the vision told him. He spotted the two, looking around, probably for him.  
  
Harry smiled and approached them. They grinned back.  
  
"How're things?" all three of them asked in unison, then laughed.  
  
"Well, shall we go to the carriages?" Harry asked finally.  
  
Their carriage was shared by Neville, who had told Harry (with a shocked look on his face) that he was afraid Harry was dead all year.  
  
When they reached the Entrance Hall, Peeves (who Harry hadn't seen in a while) was floating around and hitting people around the head, cackling madly. The Great Hall was filled with floating candles, and the clear, dark sky was the ceiling. It was amazing how fast it had already become dark...  
  
The three (Neville had gone another direction) found their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Harry couldn't help looking over at the Slytherin table at Malfoy, who was laughing about something with his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Harry glared at them and focused his gaze towards Professor McGonagall, who had set the three-legged stool down and had the Sorting Hat in her hand.   
  
As soon as she placed it on its stool, it began singing its new yearly song.  
  
"Oh..hurry up...I'm hungry!" Ron whined.  
  
Hermione shot him a warning look.  
  
"Well, they just take this long every year!" Ron said shortly.  
  
"It is an important part of the evening, Ron!" Hermione said quietly.  
  
"Please," Harry interrupted, "don't start bickering." He knew that Ron and Hermione were starting to be a little more than "just friends" now, which Harry didn't really mind.  
  
And they fell silent. "Allen, Johnathon!" McGonagall had called out to the first years. A short, skinny boy nervously made his way up to the three-legged stool, where the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat shouted.  
  
The Hufflepuff table erupted in cheers, as Johnathon Allen made his way to his house table.   
  
Harry didn't really listen to the sorting. He was caught up in his own thoughts, about how his classes would be, about Apparating...about what could possibly go wrong in his seventh year since something bad always happened every year...  
  
Before he knew it, the Sorting was over with "Zellar, Anastasia!" who was sorted into Slytherin and Dumbledore had stood up. Everyone fell silent automatically.   
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts! A new year has began already. There are only two words I would like to say, and they are- 'tuck in.'"  
  
The food appeared, followed by the "ooooooohs" and "aaaahs" of the first years. Ron had began eating at an alarming rate, and had started choking. Hermione patted his back and Harry laughed. Ron grabbed his pumpkin juice and drained it, only letting out an occasional cough every now and then.  
  
They talked about Cornelius Fudge most of the time, discussing both his ignorance and his inability to believe people. They shared many laughs together, before the plates and tables wiped clean.  
  
Dumbledore stood up again, and as Harry looked beside him, noticed that Harry's little chair between Dumbledore and McGonagall had disappeared. He smiled lopsidedly.  
  
"Once again, Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I trust you will find your year here pleasant.--"  
  
"It's never a pleasant year with Snape," Ron said and Harry agreed.  
  
"--Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has kindly reminded me that no magic should be used between the corridors and that there is a list of banned items, which can be viewed right outside of his office. First years please note that the Dark Forest is out of bounds, and the older students should be reminded of that as well," his beard twitched, amused.  
  
"Now, I suggest that you all go get some rest and learn tomorrow!" Dumbledore finished pleasantly. There was an outbreak of scraping benches against the floor and the murmur of students as everyone stood to leave.  
  
"He didn't mention anything about Voldemort," Hermione pointed out.  
  
"I guess about everyone's quite convinced he's back now," Harry said, sighing.  
  
Ron had opened a Chocolate Frog, quite ignoring the conversation. Suddenly, Harry remembered about telling Ron and Hermione that he was an Animagus.   
  
"Listen," he said to the two, who both looked up at him, "I need to tell you two something back in the Common Room. Everyone needs to be out of the room though, so we'll just wait till everyone's in bed, all right?" he declared.  
  
"All right. Is it extremely important?" Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Not really. You'll see what it is."  
  
They reached the portrait hole, who's password was "banana split".   
  
The three of them waited in the Common Room, Hermione flipping through the Daily Prophet, and Ron and Harry playing a quiet game of chess. Slowly, everyone began to drift up to bed.   
  
Hermione put down the Daily Prophet and looked at Harry expectantly. Ron had won the game, but just barely. Harry sighed and turned so that he could see both of them.  
  
"Alright. I guess there's no other way to put this, but...er..." Harry began.  
  
"Spit it out," Ron demanded eagerly.  
  
"Okay...erm..don't be so surprised that you yell or anything, all right? Okay..here goes...I am an Animagus."  
  
Ron and Hermione stared at him. Ron dropped the chess peice that he was holding, his mouth open.  
  
"Wow..." he whispered, "Really?? But I thought it took years to become one! What do you turn in to? Why did--"  
  
Harry interrupted, "I change into a black wolf--"  
  
"Can we see?" Ron interjected.  
  
Harry held up his hand to stop Ron, glanced at Hermione, and continued. "Listen to me, okay? I change into a black wolf. I am unregistered, and Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone about me being an Animagus except you two. As to me showing you, I will do so when I am done explaining this," he paused and took a deep breath.   
  
"Over the summer, around the end of July, Dumbledore asked me if I was interested in becoming an Animagus and I had told him yes. He said that there was another way to become one without waiting for years. He gave me a potion that had just a few side effects, like being cold and feeling sick. He then ran some spells over me. It took me one week before I was able to change, and on my birthday, the 31st, I was able to change. The only other people who know about it are Lupin, Dumbledore, and McGonagall. Now, you can't tell anyone about this, ok?" he added.  
  
The two nodded, exchanging excited looks. "Can you change now?" Hermione asked.  
  
Harry didn't answer, but immediately changed into wolf form. Ron grinned.  
  
"Bloody hell," he said, amazed.   
  
"I quite agree, Ron, but I think you should be registered..." Hermione said, patting Harry gently on the head.   
  
Harry changed back into a person, ignoring her comment, flattening his hair where Hermione messed it up. "So, that's one thing down, two to go," Harry said heavily.  
  
Hermione's brow furrowed, and Ron grinned again. "I love surprises!" he exclaimed in a mock woman's voice. Hermione shot him a look of warning for the second time today and Ron quieted.  
  
Harry shifted uneasily. "Er..maybe I should just show this to you instead of really telling you about it..." he said, looking around for something to summon. He remembered the chess peices.   
  
He looked over at them and held out his hand. The pawn zoomed through the air and Harry caught it. "Wicked!" Ron said. Hermione's eyes were wide.  
  
"Well, it's a wandless summoning charm and Dumbledore said it's a power that was passed on from Voldemort to me--" Ron shuddered "-oh you may as well get used to it, Ron! Me and Hermione say his name!" Harry glanced at him scoldingly, then got back on the subject. "Anyway, I don't know how I can do it."   
  
He sighed. "And now for number three."   
  
Ron sat with a slightly scandalized look on his face, and Hermione wore a look of excitement.  
  
"I can sense, or see- erm.. well I can tell when someone is approaching me."  
  
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Harry knew that statement sounded ridiculous.  
  
"You can see out of the back of your head." Ron said weakly.  
  
"Not necessarily," Harry replied quickly, "I can just get visions when someone is either coming towards me or a place where I am."  
  
His two best friends blinked at him.  
  
"And that's it for the surprises," Harry finished.  
  
"Well," Hermione breathed, exasperated and shocked, "that was quite a show, Harry, but I really must be getting to bed. We get our timetables tomorrow. G'night.."  
  
"Good night," Harry and Ron replied in unison.  
  
The two boys went up to their own dormitories. Harry changed into his pajamas and lay in his bed, thinking. Hermione took all three of the surprises quite well- better than Harry had expected. Ron, Harry hoped at least, wasn't jealous about it either. He smiled to himself and turned over, pulling the hangings shut around his bed and drifting to sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Why can't Slytherins be chucked out of this school?!" Ron exclaimed angrily the next morning in the Great Hall. They had just received their timetables and once again, they had Potions with the Slytherins. It was also the first class of the day and year. Harry groaned internally.  
  
Hermione looked at Ron and opened her mouth, but closed it, obviously deciding she didn't feel like arguing with Ron today. Harry looked down at his plate and pushed his food away, wondering how horrible Snape would be this year to him. Hermione was looking at her confusing schedule, with so many classes that Harry couldn't understand how she did all of it.  
  
"Well," Harry said after a few minutes, breaking the silence and standing up. "I'm going to go get my books for Potions. Coming?" he invited.  
  
The other two nodded and they made their way to the Gryffindor common room. After they had climbed through the portrait hole, the most disgusting smelled was in the air. People were laughing, some were yelling and screaming, and all of them were scattering. Everyone either ran past them and out of the portrait hole, or up to their dormitories- and Harry, Ron, and Hermione understood. Someone had let off a Dungbomb.  
  
Harry held his breath and nose and ran towards his dormitory. Ron and Hermione did the same. As Harry and Ron reached the dormitory, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were gasping for breath and laughing.  
  
"Who let it off?" Harry asked, releasing his nose and breath.  
  
"Don't know," Dean said, shrugging. "We were just getting ready for our first class and someone let it off."  
  
Harry didn't reply, and gathered up his books. Ron was sitting on his bed, apparently not caring about getting to Potions in time. Harry, however, didn't feel like getting detention. So, with his bag over his shoulder and his hand over his nose and mouth, he hurried down the dormitory. But as he opened the portrait hole, someone from the other side was entering and Harry ran smack into them, stumbling backwards.  
  
"Potter!" A voice burst out. It was Professor McGonagall. "What are--What's that SMELL??"   
  
She held her hand over her mouth and her eyes narrowed behind her square spectacles.   
  
"Potter!" Her voice rang out again, "did you do this?!"  
  
"No!" Harry said loudly through his hand. "I don't know who did it!"  
  
"Then go to class!" she snapped, trying to sound commanding through her voice of disgust.  
  
Harry shrugged and took off from the portrait hole. He gasped for breath outside and grudgingly made his way to Potions, meeting Peeves on the way, who was stuffing a mewling Mrs. Norris into a large vase. When he arrived into the Potions room (one minute early) all of the Slytherins were present, but more than half of the Gryffindors were gone. Snape had a pleased smile on his face, obviously happy that he would be able to throw half of Gryffindor tower in detention for being late.  
  
There was 30 seconds before the bell rang and there was no sign from the other Gryffindors. Snape stood with his arms crossed, still smiling mischieviously. There was a sudden shuffling of feet from outside.  
  
24 seconds.  
  
A loud bang was at the door, and some 9 or 10 Gryffindors scrambled in hurriedly, silent as they practically ran to their seats. Snape's grin slid off his face like it was at a free-fall. Harry stifled his laughter as there was less than 10 seconds before the bell rang. The Slytherins were glaring at the Gryffindors. The Gryffindors pulled back their seats and sat in them.  
  
BRINNGGGG! The bell sounded.  
  
Snape and the Slytherins glared. The Gryffindors looked triumphant. The Potions Master turned around, dissapointed, and waved his wand.  
  
"You know what to do. Begin," Snape said sharply, his greasy hair swaying in front of his face as he sat at his desk and stared for a moment at the quivering Neville, who realized Snape was watching him.   
  
Harry shook his head and looked at the instructions on the board that had appeared when Snape waved his wand. 'Add two salamander tails and stir counter-clockwise until bright orange...' he thought to himself. He dropped in his two tails and begin stirring, looking over at Hermione, who's potion was definetely bright orange. Harry looked down at his potion, which to his surprise, had also turned bright orange. He began to pour in that purple liquid beside him. Harry got the vision of Snape behind him, and he was right. Harry couldn't understand how Snape got behind him so fast...  
  
"Potter," Snape sneered from behind him, "did you forget something?"   
  
"What?" Harry asked coldly, yet taken aback all the same. He instinctively glanced towards the blackboard and realized he forgot a bezoar. "Oh," he said, setting down the vile in which the purple liquid had been in.   
  
"Exactly, Potter, a bezoar. Which means that this attempt at a potion is a pile of rubbish. Five points from Gryffindor," Snape added maliciously. "Evanesco," he said, pointing his wand at Harry cauldron. The contents in it emptied.   
  
Harry could have strangled him.  
  
The day passed by quite quickly, with the most amusing thing being that Dean fell out of his chair during Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall had such a hard time keeping the class down that she made the gunshot sound with her wand- the same exact sound that had awoken Harry the day he went to Diagon Alley.   
  
Harry drifted slowly to sleep that night, with the snoring of Neville in the background.   
  
A great serpent was in the room with him, its crimson eyes narrowed horribly, sending a chill down Harry's spine as he watched it, unable to move. It edged closer to him, its sharp fangs and forked tongue protruding disturbingly from its mouth.  
  
The serpent hissed, and Harry hissed back. He looked around. He realized he was in the Prison Chamber again, his back towards his uncomfortable bed. He was sweating, his glasses falling from his nose, yet he was soo cold...  
  
The serpent reached him and coiled itself around Harry. He couldn't breathe...he gasped for breath...but it wasn't coming...the serpent's tail smacked him straight in the face...  
  
The snake squeezed himself so tightly he thought he was going to snap in half. A cold, white hand grabbed the scruff of his neck painfully and pulled him up. He barely managed to twist around and see...  
  
Horrible, crimson eyes, equal to the snake's, stared at him, and a twisted smile came upon the flat, skull-white face of the Dark Lord. Harry opened his mouth to scream, but he had no breath. Voldemort raised a knife slowly, "Bow to death, Harry...."  
  
He plunged the knife towards Harry, who's eyes widened and he put up a failing struggle..  
  
His scar seared with pain...  
  
(A/N: Cliffy! Sorry for the suspension- if there's any. Next chapter's coming! I'm going to have to slow down though, since I only have 12 or 13 chapters written out and if I go too fast it will take me weeks to get up a chapter!! ^__^ But I hope the story will be worth the wait in the end! So, it will be a little while before Chapter 10 comes. But I promise it will come!!!! Since I feel bad for making you wait, I'll tell you a little about chapter 10. It's called Night of Terror, it has a little bit of Ron/Hermione in it, Quidditch, and a little......feud....between Harry and Draco. I think you'll like it. Review, Review, Review!!!!!!!!!!!Nooooo flames! Remember, I need reviews to keep going!) 


	10. Night of Terror

~~FINALLY Chapter 10 is up. I hope you all aren't mad at me because I took so long. Anyway, there's quite a bit of action in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews!!!!! ^_^   
  
I hope the length and action in this makes up for the wait. Anyway..here we go! The long awaited chapter 10!!!  
  
Chapter 10- Night of Terror  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!STOP!!!!!!!!" Harry screamed piercingly from his four poster.  
  
"HARRY!" Ron yelled, slapping Harry in the face, attempting to lull him out of his nightmare.  
  
Which was a big mistake. Harry still didn't know where he was. He was flailing in his sheets, and suddenly he felt a smack in the face and recognized it as a hand. As an instinct, he raised his fist and launched it towards the thing that smacked him.  
  
"DAMN, HARRY!" Ron roared, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??"  
  
Harry heard gasps from around him and recognized Ron's bellow and opened his eyes, looking into the bloody-nosed face of Ron, who's ears had turned red from pressure. He was holding his nose, which wasn't helping it's stream of blood. Ron moaned painfully.  
  
Harry couldn't say anything. He was breathing very heavily and couldn't seem to get it under control. His wild eyes searched around for a pair of narrowed, crimson ones but didn't find them. He could barely hear footsteps rushing up to the dormitories. The door flung open and Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville, who were all awake from Harry's scream, turned to look who it was.  
  
It was Professor McGonagall, who was staring around and panting slightly. "What has happened up here??" she asked loudly.  
  
Harry would have answered, but he was still breathing abnormally heavy and quickly. Everything was beginning to get blurry. Someone was talking- it sounded like Seamus, but Harry could not hear anything. McGonagall's face came closer to his.  
  
"Potter!" she said sharply. He barely heard it. "If you don't quite breathing like that, you're going to hypervenilate!"  
  
He couldn't stop it. Suddenly, his head spun and the world was black....  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry woke abruptly to a sound of metal falling on the floor. He jerked himself into a sitting position quickly and opened his eyes.  
  
He looked around the Hospital Wing, noticing Madam Pomfrey. She had her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide, looking over her shoulder at Harry. A metal bedpan lay at her feet.   
  
"Sorry, Mr. Potter," she apologized quietly, "go back to sleep. Just silly me, dropping pans..."  
  
"No, it's alright," Harry managed to croak. He realized his throat was terribly sore. He held up a hand to it and rubbed it, then picked up his glasses and put them on his face slowly.  
  
Madam Pomfrey sighed and picked up the bedpan, carrying it over to a table and setting it down.   
  
"Sore throat?" she asked, knowing the answer.  
  
"Mmhmm," Harry replied weakly, not wanting to talk.  
  
Madam Pomfrey began rummaging around in her cabinet. "That's because you hypervenilated last night," she explained. "Made your throat a bit sore because you were breathing from your mouth. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger came by once this morning already, holding hands," she added, unable to resist.  
  
Harry looked down at his own hands and didn't reply. He already knew Ron and Hermione were a couple, but for the first time it bothered him a bit...  
  
He slumped back down into his pillows, and Madam Pomfrey bustled over to him, handing him a smoking goblet. He took it from her and stared at it.  
  
"Well?" she asked impatiently. "It's just for the sore throat. You may still talk a little bad at first but it won't be sore..."  
  
He drained the goblet, a look of disgust on his face. It tasted like rotten eggs. He opened his mouth to speak..  
  
"Don't talk!" she said hurriedly, "it needs a good 15 minutes if you want it to work properly!"   
  
Harry nodded and reluctantly kept his mouth shut. Suddenly, he got a vision. It was Professor McGonagall, Ron, and Hermione outside. Harry looked in that direction. The door opened and Ron, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall came in.  
  
"Good morning, Potter," McGonagall said. "We wanted to remind you about a Quidditch game today against Slytherin. Due to certain circumstances you didn't play last year--" she paused and sniffed, "--we wanted to remind you that the first game is 2:00 today. Understand, Mr. Potter?"   
  
Harry nodded and smiled. Quidditch sounded great. He looked at Ron and Hermione, who had sat down in chairs beside Professor McGonagall. Suddenly, Harry wished that he could just transform into his wolf form and run to the Quidditch field right now.   
  
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly.  
  
Harry furrowed his brow, looking at her.   
  
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Ron asked.  
  
Harry bit his lip and thought for a minute. He pointed at Madam Pomfrey and mouthed out the word. He felt the potion he drank stinging his throat a bit.   
  
"Madam Pomfrey..." Hermione said, watching Harry intently.  
  
Harry nodded his head then mouthed out the word "won't"  
  
It was Professor McGonagall who spoke this time. "Won't..."  
  
Harry nodded and shifted positions. Harry mouthed out the word "let"  
  
Everyone except Madam Pomfrey, who was in her office now, stared at him.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked. "Madam Pomfrey won't..."  
  
"Let!" Harry mouthed out.  
  
"Less?" Ron inquired.  
  
Harry buried his face in his hands for a moment. "LET!" he mouthed again, annoyed.  
  
Comprehension dawned onto Professor McGonagall's face. "He's trying to say 'let' I think."  
  
Harry nodded fervently. He then pointed to himself. "Me," he mouthed.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey won't let me..." Ron began.  
  
Harry held up his hand and made it look as if it were talking. He mouthed "talk."  
  
"Madam Pomfrey won't let me talk!" Hermione said, acting as if she figured out the greatest puzzle in the world. Harry nodded.  
  
"You can talk now, Potter," came a voice. It was Madam Pomfrey. It was five minutes ago or so when he took the potion. She had said it would take fifteen minutes. What was she playing at? Harry sighed. NOW he can talk, after he got through making an idiot out of himself. He turned back to McGonagall, Ron, and Hermione.  
  
"I..." he began, choking a bit. He regained his voice quickly. "I'm sorry about last night-"  
  
"Don't apologize, Potter. All you did was dream something obviously terrifying, break Mr. Weasley's nose, and hypervenilate. None of it was your fault," Professor McGonagall interrupted.  
  
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have broken Ron's nose. I didn't mean to--"  
  
"Like I said, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know what you were doing. Now, I must be going. I have things to do. Good day, Potter," McGonagall said, standing up and walking from the infirmary.  
  
"So, anyway, sorry about that, Ron," Harry apologized, despite McGonagall's words.  
  
"No problem, mate. Madam Pomfrey fixed it in about three seconds," Ron shrugged.  
  
Harry looked down and noticed that his two best friends were holding hands again. He looked away quickly, as if he had no problem with it. He got up from bed and pulled around the curtain, then changed into his school robes.   
  
Was he jealous? 'No,' said a tiny voice in his head, 'it's not jealousy. It's something else.'  
  
'Then what?' he asked himself.  
  
But the tiny voice ignored him.  
  
The three made their way out of the infirmary a couple of minutes later. Harry didn't really have anything to say, and apparantly, neither did the other two. Harry was glad to see that they had stopped holding hands, at least.   
  
'And here's the Great Harry Potter, alone without a girlfriend, while his two best friends date,' he thought to himself bitterly.  
  
Ron's voice interrupted his thoughts. "So," he said, attempting to engage in some kind of conversation, "looking forward to Quidditch this afternoon?"   
  
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I suppose."  
  
Hermione looked like she was in very deep thought, so Harry decided not to say anything.  
  
"What time is it?" Harry asked Ron.  
  
Ron looked at his watch. "One o' clock," he muttered.  
  
"One?! I need to get ready. I haven't played a Quidditch game in years!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"I need to go to the Library for my Arithmancy essay before the game starts," Hermione said truthfully, "See you two later!" she hurried off.  
  
"I'll come with you, Harry," Ron said, catching up with him.  
  
The two went up to the common room, where they changed into their Quidditch Robes and talked, gathering up their brooms.  
  
"Well, I'm still the Keeper and Captain," Ron explained, "And you're the Seeker, Ginny, Alicia, and Katie are Chasers, and those two that we had for Beaters in fifth year are still here. Wish they weren't though," Ron finished gloomily.  
  
(A/N: I don't remember what year Alicia and Katie are in, nor the Beaters, so just go with this :-))  
  
"Ready?" Harry asked after Ron had finished.  
  
"Yeah," Ron said, and they both headed down towards the Quidditch field. They got there at 1:45, and Ron gave the team a good Pep talk (which Harry truthfully half ignored) and was told to just focus on getting the Snitch.   
  
They mounted their brooms on the field and got in position, all glaring at their opponents, the Slytherins. Harry felt delighted on being back on a broom again, with the wind rushing through his hair. He spotted Draco Malfoy, who had a sour look on his face.  
  
"WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH GAME OF THE SEASON!! GRYFFINDOR VERSUS SLYTHERIN!!" Harry heard Dean Thomas announce. Dean was the new commentator now that Lee had left last year.  
  
The stands, which were filled to the brim with students and teachers, began cheering loudly, flags of either Gryffindor or Slytherin waving about. Madam Hooch stepped onto the field, and with a surprised glance at Harry (she was obviously shocked to see he was alive) she released the bludgers and the Golden Snitch, which Harry watched closely until he couldn't see it.   
  
"THE QUAFFLE IS RELEASED," Dean yelled, "AND THE GAME BEGINS!!!!"  
  
Everyone began swerving around him and the stands erupted with chants and cheers.   
  
Harry flew high over everyone, and down at the Slytherin end of the field. Malfoy, to Harry's disgust, was following him. Harry squinted around for the Snitch...  
  
"Weasley in possession of the Quaffle--AHHH--STOLEN BY A STUPID LITTLE SLYTH--"  
  
"Thomas!!!!!!" Professor McGonagall yelled at him. It seemed that Dean was just as biased and careless about commentating as Lee was.   
  
"Sorry, Professor! Anyway- Slytherins in possession, oh no- block it, Ron!"  
  
But the Quaffle went through.  
  
Harry snapped out of watching the game and zoomed around, looking for the Snitch, trying to get away from Malfoy, who was following closely behind. Harry turned completely around and glared at him.   
  
"WOULD YOU GO AWAY?" he bellowed, as a bludger zoomed right in front of Malfoy's face.   
  
"Ahh..but Potter, don't you LOVE being followed?" Malfoy drawled, sneering. However, he turned and headed in the opposite direction. Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
"SO, Slytherins in the lead by ten points--" Dean groaned.  
  
Harry saw a glint of gold at the Gryffindor end. Dean stopped commentating to watch as Harry sped up his Firebolt. He suddenly then had a vision of Malfoy behind him, and sped up more. The Snitch was fluttering in one of the rings, and Harry got near it before it began to flutter away. He made a sharp curve and flew right over the top of Malfoy, who was clearly starting to get confused.  
  
Harry accelerated, following the Snitch, his hand outstretched. He was inches behind it, and it flew downwards a bit...  
  
Harry swore as a bludger came barreling towards him. He looked up, furious, towards Goyle, who sniggered. Harry shook his head, and tried concentrating for the Snitch again.  
  
Dean began commentating again. "Nice hit by Jack Sloper of Gryffindor towards Slytherin-- Spinnet has the Quaffle- GO ALICIA!! YES!! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!! TEN TO TEN!!"  
  
The crowd erupted in cheers, and Crabbe and Goyle stared around stupidly, gaping at Alicia.  
  
Above the whistling, Harry heard a flutter and he saw it- the Golden Snitch.  
  
This time he was going to get it- he had to.   
  
"Warrington has the Quaffle, RON BLOCK IT!! HURRY UP! YES!" Dean bellowed as Ron blocked the Quaffle and threw it to Ginny, who dodged a bludger and began speeding off.  
  
Harry, meanwhile, was after the Snitch. Once again, it was just in front of him. He lunged forward, one hand on his broom, the other outstretched...Malfoy was trying to slap his hand out of the way...Harry's fist closed around the golden, struggling ball.  
  
"HARRY POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH!! GRYFFINDOR WINS!! THAT'S ONE OF THE SHORTEST GAMES EVER! GRYFFINDOR WINS WITH 160 POINTS TO TEN!" Dean yelled, jumping up and down. The crowd exploded with cheers, and an occassional "boooo" from the Slytherins.   
  
Harry grinned to himself and Malfoy shot him a look of pure loathing. Harry flew to the ground where he was being congratulated profusely by the Gryffindors. He gave the Golden Snitch to Ron, and Harry kept grinning. Hermione hurried down and hugged him and Ron. What a wonderful afternoon....  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Later that day, around 7:00, when classes and things were over and done with, the halls were beginning to clear from dinner in the Great Hall, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the common room. Ron and Hermione were sitting very close together and Harry was sitting in another chair. He stifled a yawn as he relaxed, dreaming about the Quidditch game that day.  
  
Suddenly, Hermione gasped. "Ohh...Harry, come look....."  
  
She had an edition of the Daily Prophet in her hands. Harry jumped up from his seat and walked over to sit beside her. She pointed at an article.  
  
"Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, who had two years ago escaped from Azkaban, was seen today at the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade. Unfortunately, she had Dissapparated before being captured, but was noted to have a slight limp when she arrived at the Hog's Head, with a bit of a crooked nose that appeared to be formerly broken," Hermione read aloud.  
  
"That's my artwork, that is," Harry said triumphantly, grinning.   
  
Ron stared at him. "Your artwork? What are you on about?"  
  
Harry hesitated. He didn't like talking about the Prison Chamber, and neither did Ron or Hermione. "Well," he said, "I gave her a good kick when she got in my- my- cell in the- the Prison Chamber," he said quietly. But he couldn't surpress the rage that flowed through him at the murderer of his godfather, Sirius.  
  
"Oh," Ron said uncomfortably, shooting a nervous glance at him.   
  
"I'm gonna go on a walk, alright?" he said as an excuse to get some air and out of the common room.   
  
Ron and Hermione didn't argue, they just nodded and watched him as he exited the portrait hole. They knew Harry didn't like to talk about the Prison Chamber.  
  
Harry walked along the Charms corridor, deep in thought. He didn't stop walking as he got a vision. It was Malfoy, who looked smug. He was approaching Harry, with his hand inside his robe and clutching his wand. Harry then froze. He reached for his own wand and spun around.   
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Albus Dumbledore was walking along the corridors, humming placidly. He loved to take this route and tour the school by himself, just to give himself time to think. He was in his invisibility mode, and suddenly he sensed the presence of two people before him. He walked forward and toward the Charms corridor silently.   
  
He froze at the sight of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy in the hallway. They both had their wands out, pointing them at each other. They were some 20 feet from each other. Both were furiously staring at each other.   
  
"I've been waiting to meet you in a hallway someday, Potter," Malfoy snarled.  
  
"You mean you've been waiting to loose in a duel?" Harry spat.  
  
"Who said I'd be the one who'd loose? I think the loser will be you."  
  
"Oh, really?" Harry glared, "I really don't feel like fighting today, but if you insist on venting your frustration on me..."  
  
"What, afraid to face me, Potter?"   
  
"I've faced people uglier than you, Malfoy, believe it or not. By the way, how many Voldemort's have you dueled with? How many Death Eaters have you wrestled with?" Harry growled.  
  
Malfoy turned red with embarrassment and anger.  
  
"How about you wizard's duel with me right now?" Malfoy challenged.  
  
"I don't trust you enough to count to three, Malfoy. I will only throw a curse at you if you throw one at me," Harry stared furiously.  
  
"Fine," Malfoy said.   
  
For a minute they just stared at each other, sizing each other up as Dumbledore watched with raised eyebrows. He had pulled out his own wand in case things got nasty. After all, you've got a boy who's dueled with the Dark Lord, and a boy who's father works for the Dark Lord.  
  
Suddenly, Malfoy threw his first charm. "Expelliarmus!!"  
  
But Harry was ready, "Protego!"  
  
Suddenly, curses, charms, spells, hexes, jinxes, and whatever they could think of were flying at each other. Harry threw the most curses, but they both were good at dodging.   
  
It lasted for about 10 seconds until Harry shouted, "Furnunculus!!" "Expelliarmus!" "Impedimenta!"  
  
The jinx, curse, and the spell hit Malfoy almost in unison. They did what one curse could not. Malfoy's face broke out into furious boils. Malfoy's wand flew towards Harry, and instead of the Impediment Jinx making him freeze, Malfoy flew backwards as soon as the jinx hit him, and he did several backflips in the air, flying backward down the corridor until he fell onto the floor nastily with a yell.  
  
He was bleeding and his face was boiling at the same time. Harry stood to his normal position, his lip bleeding, and he thought he twisted his ankle a bit, but could still walk. Dumbledore, who had watched the whole thing with surprise, reappeared back to normal.  
  
"My, my...Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy..." he said.  
  
(A/N: Soo....Harry and Malfoy are caught in the act. What's Dumbledore gonna say? Review Please- Noo flames!!!!!) 


	11. The Headmaster's Warning

Disclaimer: Harry Potter's not mine and I assure you that he never will be, nor any other of the characters that you seen in the books. :-)  
  
Thanks a lot for the reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the questions, here's the answers. As for those of you that are worried, no, Draco and Harry are not getting glued together, becoming gay, becoming friends, becoming anything. They are forever enemies in this story and they always will be in this story. I think that the punishment Albus gives them in here's a pretty good idea, but oh well...  
  
~Sorrow1- You caught one of my mistakes! hehe..I knew that Quidditch wasn't usually being played on the second day of school..and I really didn't intend for it to be...but I accidentally stuck it there. Sorry about that. As for the Alicia/Katie thing, I had no idea what year they were in and it wasn't really important to the story. I wanted to introduce the least amount of characters in this story as possible- I wanted to keep it all original. Sorry about that one too.  
  
~Amy- I may have some Forbidden Forest scenes later in the story I think. ^_^ Thanks for the comments. I haven't really thought about Harry sending messages to Voldemort, but I will keep that in mind because it sounds like a cool idea. About Voldemort's fury, let's just say he's really confused. No one's really escaped from the Prison Chamber before, but after a while he has a good idea who it was. Right now he's quiet, but he's planning something.  
  
~Crystal- You'll find out this chapter!  
  
~steph- Thanks for that bit of information- where did you get that from? I haven't seen it in the books or heard JKR mention it...but maybe I skipped over it.  
  
~Everyone else- I really appreciate the comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
And now, for the story:  
  
Chapter 11- The Headmaster's Warning  
  
  
  
Harry jumped slightly, his adrenaline pumping wildly as he looked at his Headmaster.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore..." Harry began, terrified of what his punishment will be.  
  
But before Harry could say another word, Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him and walked down the hall towards Malfoy, who was gasping for breath, sprawled on the floor, holding his face with blood on his hands.  
  
Dumbledore reached Malfoy and performed a few spells on him (Harry couldn't hear because he was way down at the other end of the corridor) and helped him up. Malfoy still had a few boils on his face, and his nose was bleeding ('Is that the second time I've made someone's nose bleed in two days?' Harry thought fleetingly.) Malfoy walked on his own down the corridor towards Harry, wearing a scowl on his face. Harry glared at him.  
  
"Harry," Dumbledore said, "please give Mr. Malfoy's wand back to him."  
  
Harry threw Malfoy's wand back at him aggressively.  
  
"Both of you come with me," Dumbledore said solemnly.  
  
Harry pocketed his wand, as well as Malfoy, following Dumbledore, scowling at each other. "Up to my office," Dumbledore told them. He then walked behind Harry and Malfoy, clearly making sure they didn't start cursing each other again.   
  
When they reached Dumbledore's office, he motioned for them to sit. He then sat in his own chair. Professor McGonagall was already there and looking at Harry and Malfoy with dissapointment.  
  
"Smart move, Potter," Malfoy spat.  
  
"MY move? YOU'RE the one who challenged me to a wizard's duel," Harry snapped.  
  
"--now you've got me in trouble--"  
  
"--you better shut up--"  
  
"--not listening to you, Potter--"  
  
"--didn't I just tell you to shut up?!!--"  
  
"--don't tell me to shut up--"  
  
"--I'll tell you whatever I want, Malfoy--"  
  
The two professors watched their students arguing.  
  
"--I'll jinx you, Potter, if you tell me that again--"  
  
"OH YEAH?? HOW ABOUT YOU TRY???" Harry roared, leaping up from his seat and plunging a hand in his robes.  
  
"POTTER! STOP IT!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Professor McGonagall bellowed angrily, pushing Harry back down into his seat. "Put your wand away," she added impatiently.  
  
"Exactly, boys, that's enough. What you have done tonight is outrageous behavior and I better not see it again. I was merely walking through the halls and I saw this. And yes, I saw everything," he added dissapprovingly.   
  
"He started it," Malfoy said childishly, pointing at Harry.  
  
Harry narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Liar," he said.  
  
"Enough," Dumbledore declared sternly. "This is childish. I know who started it, and I know who ended it. Am I to be understood that this will not be happening again?"  
  
"Yessir," they both muttered quietly.  
  
"I will not be assigning detention, but instead, be taking away your wands for a week. No magic, with or without a wand--" he paused slightly and glanced at Harry, "--can be performed for a week. You cannot have people perform magic for you. 40 points each will be taken from your houses. Now, would you kindly lay your wands upon the desktop?"   
  
Harry nodded and took out his wand without hesitation, setting it upon Dumbledore's desk. Malfoy frowned, mumbled something, and threw his wand onto the desk angrily.  
  
"Now, Mr. Malfoy, you are excused and you should stop by the hospital wing. I would like another word with Harry," Dumbledore finished.  
  
Malfoy stood and brushed past Harry, who glared at him until he walked out of the door. As soon as Malfoy left, Harry was still angry, yet a little less than he was.  
  
"Have you ever just felt like cursing someone, but when you get the chance, you realize you can't perform the Unforgivable Curses?" Harry asked, more to himself than Dumbledore or McGonagall.  
  
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall exchanged quick glances. "Well..I can't truly say I have. It wasn't often when I thought of performing such curses on my classmates...no...." Dumbledore muttered distractedly, running a hand through his beard.  
  
"I tried the Cruciatus Curse in my fifth year but--"  
  
"YOU WHAT?" Professor McGonagall cried.  
  
"It didn't work properly. She only screamed and got thrown backwards. Then she stood up and threw the same curse back at me. Miserable old bat..." Harry grumbled.  
  
"On whom did you attempt to perform the Cruciatus Curse on?" Dumbledore asked calmly.  
  
"Bellatrix Lestrange. Right after she k-killed S-S..." Harry faltered, not able to say Sirius's name and looking down.  
  
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "At that time you were not capable of such curses."  
  
"But I'm still not capable of such curses," Harry said, brow furrowed.  
  
Dumbledore steepled his fingers and leaned back. "Oh, I think you are."  
  
"Errm.. W-What?" Harry stammered, his furrowed brow gone and replaced with wide eyes.  
  
"I said I believe you are capable of performing the Unforgivable Curses," Dumbledore repeated, "but I should advise you not to perform one on Mr. Malfoy. I doubt his father would take kindly to that."  
  
Dumbledore cleared his throat, a twinkle in his blue eyes.  
  
"I daresay that, judging by the way I watched you take down about six Death Eaters without a wand, you almost do not need one to cause injury..."  
  
Professor McGonagall huffed angrily. Dumbledore glanced up at her.  
  
"Ahh..." Dumbledore finally said, turning back to Harry and smiling. "Back to the subject of the dueling."  
  
Professor McGonagall folded her arms and let out an impatient sigh. Harry couldn't help but grin.  
  
"You must be careful, Harry," Dumbledore said, now serious. "You are quite a powerful wizard, and having a duel with someone less powerful than you can be quite dangerous. Take tonight for example--"  
  
"Who won the duel?" Professor McGonagall interrupted excitedly.  
  
"Harry did," Dumbledore answered. McGonagall looked quite satisfied. Harry grinned again. "As I was saying, Harry, tonight I believe you used the Impediment Jinx, the Dissarming Charm, and the Furnunculus Curse very close together. Most wizards first of all, can't talk that fast, and second of all, be able to make all of the curses work at the same time. The Impediment Jinx didn't work properly, but instead launched Mr. Malfoy down the corridor," he paused.   
  
"Your power is hard to match, Harry. You are almost a fully qualified wizard, and you are of age. Also, your ability to transform into an animal is very valuable. You can talk to snakes, you know if someone's behind you, or approaching you, and you can summon things with your hand. I do not know if you will develop new powers. There is no way to tell- the only thing we can do is wait and see."  
  
Harry nodded.   
  
"I will warn you, Harry. You can do a lot more than you think. If you are intimidated, or provoked as you were tonight, you can do some dangerous things. You really mustn't let people like Mr. Malfoy provoke you as he did tonight. Expecially with people who are connected even that close with Voldemort," Dumbledore finished quietly.  
  
McGonagall shuddered at Voldemort's name. Harry nodded again.  
  
"Now, about that bleeding lip, It has already stopped bleeding, and it is not too noticeable. However, if you feel the need, you may stop by the infirmary."  
  
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked, getting the old wizard's attention.   
  
"Yes, Harry?"  
  
"Have any Death Eaters been captured lately?"  
  
Dumbledore hesitated, surveying Harry for a moment. "No. They are being searched for. The dementors, of course, are not helping, but many Aurors are searching. Bellatrix Lestrange, who as you know wasn't captured at the end of your fifth year, was seen in Hog's Head. She, unfortunately, was not captured."  
  
Harry sighed. "I saw in the Daily Prophet about her limp leg and her broken-like nose. She obviously hadn't recovered from the time she was in my cell at the Prison Chamber." He shifted, uncomfortable at mentioning it again.  
  
Dumbledore smiled only slightly. "Well, Harry, I suggest you head up to bed. And try not to get in a fight with anyone on your way there," he added.  
  
"All right," he smiled back. "Good night, Professors," Harry said.  
  
"Good night," Dumbledore and McGonagall replied in unison.  
  
Harry left the office, feeling a lot better than when he entered it. The thought of Malfoy still made him a bit angry, but he was overall relaxed. The no magic part didn't bother him. He had lived ten years without a wand before. But, being in the magical world, it made you feel a bit insecure without it..  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Dumbledore watched Harry go and stood up.   
  
"Albus," Professor McGonagall said nervously, "is he *that* powerful?"   
  
Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, I believe he is, Minerva. We are lucky he is on our side in this war."  
  
"What would it be like if he turned against us?" McGonagall asked.  
  
"It would be like...a second more powerful Voldemort. Something I may not be able to even stand up to."  
  
McGonagall tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She tried to keep the image of her student turning into a Voldemort-like thing out of her head.   
  
They remained silent for a moment, both trying to not think about what it would be like for Harry Potter to be the Dark Lord. Dumbledore reached for Draco's wand and put it upon a shelf, then reached for Harry's wand.   
  
As his fingers wrapped around it, a tingling, rushing sensation spread through him. It was such a powerful feeling that Dumbledore gasped, looking down at his student's wand. Professor McGonagall looked at him, alarmed. "What happened, Albus?" she asked, concerned.  
  
"Harry's wand," he said, awestruck. "When I touched it, it was the strangest feeling. It was almost like a surge of power. I've never felt anything like it."  
  
"Maybe you are capable of using his wand," McGonagall supplied. "Try to do something with it."  
  
Dumbledore waved Harry's wand, noting the energy it seemed to have. The quill he wanted to levitate hovered over his desk obediently.  
  
"That is quite strange," Dumbledore muttered distractedly. McGonagall stared at him a moment, before bidding him goodnight and leaving. For the longest while, Dumbledore sat behind his desk, twirling Harry's wand between his fingers and thinking deeply.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
When Harry returned to the common room about 10 minutes later, Ron and Hermione were still sitting quite close together and doing something like a crossword in the Daily Prophet. Harry sat in the chair opposite of them. They looked up.  
  
"That sure was a long walk," Ron said, grinning.  
  
"I needed plenty of time to think," Harry said, grinning back, "Actually..."  
  
He launched into the story of tonight's events.  
  
"Blimey...close call!" Ron said admiringly, "but Dumbledore'd never chuck you out of school. The no magic part's not good, though."  
  
Harry shrugged and turned to Hermione.  
  
"Dumbledore's right, you know," Hermione whispered.  
  
"I know," Harry said, throwing his hands in the air in mock submission.  
  
"I'm being serious," Hermione said with a straight face.  
  
"So am I. Honestly, Hermione, I know he's right," he assured her, "I'm going to go to bed," he said, standing up and walking towards the dormitory. "Good night."  
  
"G'night," Hermione and Ron said.  
  
Harry undressed upstairs and climbed into bed, slightly afraid to fall asleep because of his nightmare last night- but he was so tired. Ron climbed up the dormitory about 10 minutes later. Sleep washed over Harry and he slept finally with peace...  
  
(A/N: Okay, there's eleven. Sorry if it was kinda short or if Dumbledore or McGonagall were a bit out of character.. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me reemphasize that there's NO FLAMES! Any other reviews I would love to have!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!) 


	12. The Wandless Week

Disclaimer: Harry Potter's not mine and I assure you that he never will be, nor any other of the characters that you seen in the books. :-)  
  
Here's the questions you asked me. I hope I can try to answer them as good as possible!!  
  
~George: I dunno if Harry's going to get more power yet...I haven't really decided if I want to give him more power.   
  
~Amy: LOL I laugh every time I read your reviews! Don't worry, you can post as many reviews as you like, it doesn't bother me. Nope, Snape doesn't know anything about Harry's new abilities nor that he is an Animagus. The only problem with Harry showing off his wandless summoning charms in front of Malfoy would be that Dumbledore told him not to...but about the Snape thing, ironically I had already planned out a chapter pretty much devoted to Snape's reaction. I forget what chapter I've planned it out to be. I think it's sixteen- but I'm not sure. So far Harry doesn't have any other powers than what he's got. Thanks for the comments!  
  
~steph: Oh...I didn't see that! I've told myself I need to go back and read OOTP...  
  
~PhoenixPadfoot89: You'll find out why this chapter!! ^_^  
  
~m3r51: Yeah, I thought about this to myself as I wrote it. I then added in at the end of one of the sentences about Harry feeling slightly insecure about being wandless now that he was so used to carrying one. But thanks so much for the comments!  
  
Yay I got 61 reviews total! I never thought I would get this many...but thank everyone who reviewed this chapter!!!!! Maybe someday I'll get hundreds...*daydreams*  
  
**Okay, enough of my rambling....LOL anyway here's the story. I really hope you like it!**  
  
Chapter 12- The Wandless Week  
  
  
  
Harry woke in the morning to laughing. He sat up, his eyes and face screwed up with sleepiness, and looked over at Ron's bed and noticed that he and Dean had been playing Exploding Snap and Dean's hand had been burnt. He was waving it frantically, stopping momentarily to blow on it. Ron was laughing.  
  
Harry climbed out of bed unnoticed and dressed quietly. Ron stopped laughing as he noticed Harry out of bed. "Hey," he said, and Harry returned a greeting.  
  
He reached his hand in his pocket to make sure his wand was still there, panicked as he realized he couldn't find it, then suddenly remembered Dumbledore had it and relaxed immediately. Harry headed down to the Great Hall with Ron and Dean, chortling occasionally at Dean's burnt hand. As they entered the hall, Harry was shot a look of hatred from Malfoy, with a stupid-looking Crabbe and Goyle eating messily on each side of him.  
  
Harry returned the look of hatred and glanced up at the staff table, where Professor Lupin was sitting. He wasn't here yesterday. Professor Lupin waved at him and Harry returned it smilingly.  
  
In Potions, 20 points was taken from Gryffindor because Harry didn't have his wand, and when Harry tried to tell Snape that Dumbledore had it, he ignored him, much to Malfoy's delight. Malfoy did not get points taken off of Slytherin house for being wandless.  
  
Harry was looking forward towards Defense Against the Dark Arts, where he would get to have Professor Lupin for a teacher again. Thinking about it made History of Magic go by quickly. In Charms, however, Harry had to concentrate again because they were studying Fidelius Charms.   
  
The Fidelius Charm was the same exact charm that Harry's parents were using while hiding from Voldemort at Godric's Hollow. There was a Secret-Keeper, who in Harry's parents' case was Peter Pettigrew after Sirius handed his Secret-Keeper role over. Peter Pettigrew had turned out to be a traitor and was the cause of Harry's parents' deaths. Harry's blood ran cold at the thought of it.  
  
Soon it was lunch break and Harry was a bit shocked to find that this morning's Daily Prophet had contained another Death Eater being seen at Hogsmeade. In the article it said that Voldemort was trying to get closer to Hogwarts, and that the Death Eaters were attempting to spy. He also found out that Herbology, Quidditch practice, and Care of Magical Creatures were cancelled today because it was storming so hard outside.  
  
The rain was splattering noisily on the windows as Harry made his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts excitedly. This year they had this class with the Hufflepuffs. As he entered the classroom, almost no one was there, except for a few Hufflepuffs and Professor Lupin was at his desk, looking through a book. Harry walked up to his desk and looked down at what he was reading.   
  
Some confusing spells were listed on the page, and upon giving up trying to figure out what they were, he said, "Hi, Professor," quietly.  
  
Professor Lupin slammed the book hurriedly and jerked his head upward, startled. He then let out a sigh. "Oh, hello, Harry you gave me quite a startle," he said, opening his desk and throwing the book in there.  
  
"Sorry," Harry mumbled.  
  
"Quite all right," Lupin smiled. "So how are you doing?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "All right, I guess."  
  
But they didn't get very far into a conversation. When the bell rang, Ron and Hermione had already appeared and many of the other Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs were talking excitedly.  
  
"Well, class, I assume you still remember me from your third year?" Lupin said kindly.  
  
There was a murmur and Professor Lupin took that for a yes.  
  
"Excellent. Now. Take out your wands."  
  
There was rustling and everyone had soon had their wands on their desk. (Except for Harry.)  
  
"Harry," Professor Lupin said, eyeing him closely, "where is your wand?"  
  
"Professor Dumbledore has it," Harry said, aware of the class listening in.  
  
Lupin nodded understandingly and continued. "Today we are going to practice the Patronus Charm. The Patronus is used to repel dementors, and when conjured, it will charge down the dementor. Today we are going to practice this charm, and you should achieve a silvery mist. The incantation is 'Expecto Patronum' all right?"  
  
The class whispered around excitedly, and Harry was being thrown some looks of curiousity. It is a known fact that Harry Potter can conjure a stag Patronus. Harry, meanwhile, ignored the looks and tried to concentrate.  
  
Soon, the whole class except for Harry was practicing the Patronus Charm. No one acheived a corporeal patronus, but most acheived a silver mist.  
  
Later that day, in Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, they studied types of dragons. Harry and Malfoy had ran into each other, both longing for their wands. Malfoy mumbled something and walked past Harry, who felt like using a wandless Summoning Charm and then ducking out of the way. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. He didn't even want to figure out what would happen if he performed magic while he wasn't supposed to and Dumbledore found out....so he kept walking.  
  
Transfiguration was the last class of the day and Harry had kept his word and did not do magic. Professor McGonagall was in a fair mood. Today they were doing basic transfiguration on rabbits. The goal was to transfigure the rabbit into a turtle. Ron, who was carelessly waving his wand around while talking to Hermione, brought it down sharply and a spell shot straight at Neville.   
  
Neville gave a squeak and a puff of smoke flew around him. Professor McGonagall jumped out of her chair and Ron abruptly stopped talking and dropped his wand. Neville was on the floor and had sprouted whiskers, and large rabbit ears protruded from his head, along with some bucked teeth.  
  
The class laughed and Neville turned bright red. "WEASLEY!!" McGonagall boomed.  
  
Ron gulped and looked at her.  
  
"Take Mr. Longbottom to the infirmary and quickly!" she shouted.  
  
Ron jumped from his chair and grabbed the nervous Neville by his arm. Neville hopped away hilariously, with an embarrased looking Ron leading him. The bell rang and Harry and Hermione gathered up their books, chuckling.  
  
"Potter, come here," McGonagall said as the class filed out. Hermione looked at him for a moment and left quietly.  
  
Harry's stomach sank. He couldn't be in trouble *again*, could he? Was it because he didn't have his wand? 'No,' he thought, 'she was there when Dumbledore took it.' Harry approached her desk.  
  
"I want to know if, before your wand was taken away, if you had any trouble with it," she asked.  
  
Harry stared at her blankly then racked his brain. "No, I've never had trouble with it that I can remember," he answered, bewildered.  
  
"I want you to come with me to the headmaster's office, Potter. Bring your things with you."  
  
"What did I do?" Harry asked, gathering his bag.   
  
"It's not you, Potter, it's your wand. Don't worry, you're not in trouble."  
  
"Right."   
  
Harry followed her out the door and they headed towards Dumbledore's office.   
  
He was in deep thought, wondering what was wrong with his wand. Despite knowing that he wasn't in trouble, he was quite nervous.. They were walking at a slightly quick pace, so Harry had to walk fast. Soon, they had reached the stone gargoyle and McGonagall said the password ("Caramel Apples") and they traveled up the moving staircase to Dumbledore's office.   
  
McGonagall knocked on the door softly. "Come in," Dumbledore said pleasantly.  
  
She opened the door and Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, looking as if he were expecting them all along. He leaned back in his chair.  
  
"I have Potter, Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall said. She looked over at Harry, who was a bit confused.  
  
"Good...good.." Dumbledore replied, standing again. "Please sit down, both of you," he requested.  
  
Harry and Professor McGonagall sat in the two armchairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.  
  
Dumbledore crossed the room and reached upon his shelf, pulling down something. As he turned around, Harry realized that he had pulled Harry and Malfoy's wands off of the shelf. Deep down, Harry was glad that his wand was still in one peice. He had had the horrible image that his wand would have been snapped, grinded in small peices...  
  
Dumbledore took a seat again and placed the wands upon the desk. He sighed.   
  
"Well, Harry, I am sure you are quite confused as to why I have requested you come here," he said.  
  
Harry nodded, eyeing the wands again.  
  
"Do not worry, your wand is not malfunctioning," Dumbledore said, reading Harry's mind. "I just wanted to see something."  
  
He pulled out his own wand from his robes and placed it upon the desk beside Harry and Malfoy's.  
  
"The day of you and Mr. Malfoy's duel," Dumbledore began, looking up at Harry. "After both of you had put your wands upon my desktop and left my office, I, of course, began to put them on my shelf. After shelving Draco's wand, I picked up yours," he said, pointing unnecessarily at Harry's wand.  
  
"Upon holding it in my hands, I felt the oddest sensation--" he paused, seeming to recall the moment "--like a tingle running through my hand and arm. Professor McGonagall was in the office with me at the time, and for a while we wondered why I had that sensation. But now, I believe I have figured it out. Please pick up my wand from the desktop and hold it the way you normally would," he finished, gesturing at his wand.  
  
Harry, who had been listening intently, hesitated for a moment. He looked over at McGonagall, who was watching curiously, back to Dumbledore, who was looking straight at him. Harry reached out his hand and gripped Dumbledore's wand, then lifted it from the table.   
  
He immediately gasped. The tingling sensation, exactly as Dumbledore had described it, ran through his hand and arm. He almost dropped the wand in surprise, but remained a firm grip on it. His eyes widened and the tingling stopped. He stared at the wand, motionless.   
  
Dumbledore nodded to himself, apparently thinking hard. "Cast something with it," he finally said.  
  
"Ermm.." Harry said awkwardly, "what do I cast?"  
  
"Just a simple spell--anything really."  
  
He pointed Dumbledore's wand at a quill on the desk. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said quietly, swish and flicking the wand.   
  
The quill rose into the air quickly, hovering. Harry raised his eyebrows, and brought the wand down again. The quill landed softly on the desktop.  
  
"It seems," Dumbledore said, surveying Harry, "that we are both able to use each other's wands. I also performed a charm with your wand the other day, and the results were just as well."  
  
"Because, Potter," McGonagall spoke this time, "you and Professor Dumbledore are both powerful than most. Sometimes, according to certain books, a powerful wizard can use another powerful wizard's wand. However, if a powerful wizard used a weaker wizard's wand, the effects of the spell the powerful wizard performed would be weaker, and vice versa. Obviously, Potter, yourself and Professor Dumbledore are equal in power because your spells acted normally and alike."  
  
Harry put Dumbledore's wand back upon the desk, a bit shocked. Here was the proof. He was equal in power to Albus Dumbledore--of all people--the most powerful wizard in the world?! He looked up at Dumbledore-- and they just stared at each other for a minute.  
  
"Well," Harry said quite breathlessly, "that's...that's...just....wow." He ran his hands through his hair distractedly. He was shocked and his brain seemed to be flipping around.  
  
Dumbledore smiled, McGonagall leaned back in her chair, looking between them, and Harry was still having trouble believing that he was as powerful as Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"Right, Harry," Dumbledore finally said, his eyes twinkling, "I am guessing you are quite ready to return to your dormitory and work on homework?"   
  
Harry, speechless, nodded and stood up.   
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
It was finally the end of a very long week (for Harry) and on Saturday morning, Harry woke up to find his wand lying on his bedside table. He grinned at it and pocketed it after he changed his clothes. As he entered the common room, he found that there were just a few third years that were either reading something or talking.   
  
Upon walking out of the portrait hole, he looked down the hall and saw Ron and Hermione, holding hands and laughing about something, walking slowly with their backs turned to Harry. Harry watched them, feeling as seperate from them as if he were a different species. He had noticed that Ron and Hermione had been spending more time together than they did with himself. He didn't mind them being a couple, but being ignored by them bothered him.  
  
Sometimes it hurt like an emotional Cruciatus Curse. He spent more and more time with himself, going places by himself. Of course Ron and Hermione didn't notice his loneliness, but Harry was still friends with them anyway.  
  
He began to walk down the hall after they had walked out of sight, his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the floor, dragging his feet almost as if he were in a daze. As he walked into another corridor, he collided with someone, but didn't look up to see who it was.  
  
"Watch where you are going, Potter. It seems your use of glasses doesn't help your poor eyesight," spat the person. It was Snape, of all people. Snape paused for a minute. Harry was still looking at the floor, his hands still in his pockets. "Five points from Gryffindor," he said in a quiet voice.  
  
Harry didn't flinch or look up. He really didn't care right now. He walked around Snape casually and began walking down the corridor again. He knew Snape was still watching him.   
  
(A/N: Poor Harry. Anyway, I'm gonna skip a month in the next chapter. It's gonna be Halloween. And Harry gets a little frustrated at Ron and Hermione....don't worry, things will get better between the three of them! By the way, does anyone know the exact date of the last day of term at Hogwarts? If you do PLEASE tell me!! I've tried looking in all five of the books but I haven't really seen it. Thanks! Please review, NOOO FLAMES!!!!!!!!!!!) 


	13. Hostile Halloween

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, except for next chapter which two new characters pop up! ^_^  
  
As for the stuff I needed to reply to, here it is:  
  
~PhoenixPadfoot89, Serena24, steph: Thanks for helping out with the date and thank you so much for the reviews! See, the last day of term is going to end up important eventually (or so I'm planning..) anyway, thanks again!  
  
~saman007uk0: It's okay you don't know the date- thanks for reviewing anyways!  
  
~Earl of Rosshire: *smacks self in face many times* I keep yelling at myself that I need to reread the Order of the Phoenix! LOL. You are exactly right, and I should have realized that, but *sniffs dramatically* if only I had a brain! :-)  
  
~ckat44: Voldie and Harry meet up in this story....you'll see what happens!!  
  
Also thanks Sea-Turtles and Iniysa for the reviews!  
  
WOW, you guys are GREAT! Almost 70 reviews! *happy dance*  
  
**By the way, sorry about being so late about chapter 13- *kicks self* I procrastinate- and not just that- my computer is acting so stupid. It acts like it can't load things, then I have to get off the internet, get back on, off, on, off, on...okay you get the point. School starts back tomorrow (NOOOO!!AVADA KEDAVRA TO HIGH SCHOOL! GRRR..) but I did have time to "outline" a few chapters...up to 16, actually...  
  
(A/N: This fell under Chapter 13 by coincedence- lol. As most of you know 13 is usually considered a bad number..and Halloween just happens to be a "scary" holiday....anyway. Enjoy!)   
  
  
  
Chapter 13- Hostile Halloween  
  
The month of October passed by. Harry was getting more and more frustrated about being alone all of the time. He wanted to do something about it, yet he felt some kind of satisfaction at acting like he was ignoring them back. Ron and Hermione spent most of their time by the lake; Harry spent most of his time wandering the hallways.  
  
Sometimes Harry would meet a teacher in the hallway, but he never said anything to them. Today, he was stomping around the halls and he met Professor Lupin.  
  
"Hello, Harry," he said kindly, "what are you doing wandering around by yourself? Where's Ron and Hermione?"   
  
Harry looked up at him and sighed. "They're by the lake, holding hands and doing whatever normal couples do."  
  
Lupin stared at him for a minute.   
  
"Why don't you come in my office for a cup of tea?" he finally said.  
  
Harry nodded and followed his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor back to his classroom.  
  
"So," Lupin began, boiling some water in a kettle with his wand, "how have things been? I haven't really got a good chance to talk to you this year---"  
  
"About what?" Harry interrupted defensively, yet quietly.  
  
Lupin noticed Harry's defensive tone and glanced at him apologetically.   
  
"Nothing personal," Lupin muttered. "I was just saying we haven't got to chat normally for a while."  
  
"Oh, sorry, Professor. I'm just a little..." he trailed off, staring at his knees. He had feared for a moment that the subject of Sirius or the Prison Chamber was about to come up.  
  
"So, Ron and Hermione are now a couple?" Lupin asked, determined to change the subject as he added tea to the water and poured it into two cups, pushing one towards Harry.   
  
Harry looked down at his tea and blew on it a bit to cool it down. "Yes. They are."   
  
Lupin took a sip of his tea. "And what do you think about that?"   
  
"It bloody well sucks," Harry said frankly. "They've been ignoring me and waltzing down the halls hand-in-hand, while I watch from somewhere else. It's not jealousy, it's...just...I dunno."  
  
"Well," Lupin said, his eyebrows raised slightly, "have you talked to them about it?"  
  
Harry shifted slightly and drank a little of his tea before answering. "No. I feel that if they ignore me, then I should ignore them right back."  
  
Lupin scratched his cheek and stared at Harry. He wished he could do something for him, but what?  
  
"You really should say something," Lupin said timidly. "They probably do not realizing what they are doing to you."  
  
"Well, someday they'll know," Harry said a bit roughly, taking one last sip of his tea and standing. "Thank you for the tea, Professor. I must be going."  
  
"Right," Professor Lupin said, standing and walking with him to the door. "Remember if you ever need someone to talk to I'm here."  
  
"I know," Harry said quietly, giving him a small smile before he left.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
It was Halloween night, and as Harry entered the Great Hall, Hagrid's large pumpkins glowed from everywhere and the candles floated against the starry sky. The full moon was bright. Lupin would be transforming tonight. He sat across from Ron and Hermione, who were talking about something that Harry didn't really care about. They greeted Harry quickly then returned back to their conversation.  
  
When the food appeared, it was very grand and delicious. Harry was eating quietly when Ron and Hermione turned to him.  
  
"Hey mate," Ron said quietly, "what's been wrong with you lately? You've been avoiding us."  
  
Harry stopped eating abruptly. "Avoiding you?" he growled, "Me?"  
  
Ron and Hermione nodded.   
  
"Avoid...*I'VE* BEEN AVOIDING *YOU?*" Harry yelled, jumping up from his seat. "IT'S YOU LOT WHO'S BEEN AVOIDING ME!!" The students and teachers were all quiet and staring at him. He threw his fork down with a loud clang and ran from the hall.  
  
He ran without stopping all the way to the Gryffindor common room, where it was empty. Ron and Hermione ran in after him and stopped as he sat down, ignoring them.  
  
"Harry?" Hermione said quietly.  
  
"What?" he spat, glaring at her.  
  
"We--we--n-need to talk," she stammered, on the verge of tears.  
  
"That is, you mean, if you actually will talk to me instead of leaving me?" Harry shouted at her.  
  
"We'll talk," Ron said, sitting beside Hermione and facing him. "Please?" he added.  
  
"Fine--"  
  
"Harry, we're really sorry. We d-didn't realize that we were ignoring you," Hermione paused to sniff, "we thought you wanted time alone. P-Please, Harry. We didn't know, w-we're sorry and we promise it w-won't happen again."  
  
Harry looked up at her to see tears rolling down her face and Ron looking shamefully at the floor.  
  
"You swear? Because you know it's not great to be Harry Potter and not have a person to talk to," Harry said very quietly.  
  
"We swear," Ron said finally, not replying about Harry's last statement. "We've been all been thinking we've been avoiding each other. Now we know that it will never happen again, right?"   
  
"Right," Harry said, grinning a little.  
  
"Okay, now that's settled," Hermione gave a watery smile, "I'm going upstairs to study a bit. See you two tomorrow."  
  
"G'night," Ron and Harry replied.  
  
"So, Harry," Ron said, yawning. "Looking forward to Christmas?"  
  
'What a complete change of subject,' Harry thought. "I suppose, Ron."  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
For the rest of the night the two mostly talked and played a small game of Exploding Snap. Harry had charmed the cards to show a picture of Snape, and he had re-named it "Exploding Snape" for this game. They had gotten some good laughs from the Exploding Snape cards until everyone came back from the feast, tired and full.  
  
Before Harry had fallen asleep in his bed, he heard a distant something that sounded like a large cannon from outside, towards Hogsmeade. He sat up, listening intently. *Bang* There it was again. He got up and changed back into his robes, and grabbed his wand. Everyone had already seemed to be asleep, and Harry snuck from the common room. He strolled down the corridors quietly and looked out of a window towards Hogsmeade.  
  
A shower of wand sparks was issued from that direction, and Harry could make out a fire. He glanced at his watch. It read 9:35. He looked back at the fire.   
  
Something wasn't right. He ran down the corridor until he saw Professor McGonagall. "Professor!" he shouted.  
  
Professor McGonagall doubled back and stared at him. "What are you doing up, Potter? I--"  
  
"Professor," Harry interrupted her hurriedly. "I think something's happening in Hogsmeade. It looks like attacks--"  
  
"What?" she gasped, hurrying over to a nearby window and looking out of it.   
  
"You might want to call the Order--"  
  
"Potter," she interjected, staring frantically at him. "Run to Professor Dumbledore's office and alert him of this. I must go to Professor Snape. Now!"   
  
Harry glanced at her fleetingly before taking off in the direction of Professor Dumbledore's office. He reached the stone gargoyle and began shouting sweets.  
  
"Chocolate Frog! Sugar Quill! Fizzing--Professor!!" he shouted as the gargoyle opened and Dumbledore came out.   
  
"Harry? What's--"  
  
"Hogsmeade," Harry said quickly. "Attacks on Hogsmeade! Right now! I just saw out the window!!"   
  
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "Thank you for alerting me of this, Harry," he said very quickly. "Return to your dormitory, please, and stay there. Do not say anything of the attacks to anyone in the Gryffindor dormitories. I must go," he added and hurriedly left.   
  
Harry grudgingly returned to his dormitory where no one had awoken. He got back into bed and later, after hoping worriedly that the attacks would not come to Hogwarts, he fell asleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
It was November first, and the school's students were completely oblivious to the fact that Hogsmeade had been attacked last night. The news had been kept quiet, and wasn't even published in the papers. Hogsmeade weekends were cancelled.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were now getting along better, and were acting overall like their usual selves. Harry, who of course knew of the attacks, was getting a bit nervous. What if Hogwarts was next? Should he tell Ron and Hermione despite Dumbledore's wishes? 'No,' he thought.  
  
He glanced at the high table. He felt that he was being watched. Although, when he looked along the staff, no one was watching him, but tending to their own business. He sighed and turned back to talking with Ron and Hermione.  
  
(A/N: I know, it's not my longest Chapter. Sorry it ended in kind of a weird place...but I wanted to go ahead and stop it here. Time's going to fly another month again and it will start to slow down again. REVIEW PLEASE!!! Nooo flames! Have a good New Year's, Everyone!) 


	14. To Apparate, Or Not to Apparate

--A month I haven't updated! *Hides face and scuttles away* As I said before, I'm a horrible procrastinator.  
  
In this chapter I introduce two new characters. Unless I'm badly mistaken, I haven't seen these names anywhere. Lucas Johansen and Marcus Pritchard are their names. You'll see what they do. If anybody's got a fic with these names, whoops! Honestly I never saw them if you do. BUT if you do, I hope you don't mind me borrowing them. Please? Anyway, you all know Harry Potter and everybody you recognize doesn't belong to me. It's all J.K. Rowling's.  
  
Now, for the review replies! I only got 4 reviews-but I guess that's better than none, eh? Sure it is!  
  
~saman007uk: Thanks! I try to update as much as possible, but I haven't been doing a good job lately, have I? LOL.  
  
~ckat44: Thanks for the comments! You have great stories!!--I've read some of them! Yes, one of the professors was watching him. But they were only sneaking a curious glance..It was Snape. I hope this chapter 14 will be long enough!! ^_^   
  
~Sea-Turtles: Thanks! You're a *lot* better writer than I am LOL! I reviewed your story (which is an awesome story, I must say!) I don't think Ron, Hermione, and Harry will get in an argument again, but they may disagree with each other at times. It was Snape who was watching Harry. He was being nosey...hehe. I'm glad you enjoy my story. I enjoy yours just as much!!  
  
~Iniysa (Lauren): Thank you !! I'm working on the next chapter right now! ^_^  
  
Chapter 14- To Apparate, Or Not to Apparate  
  
Now that Harry had Ron and Hermione back as normal friends, November flew past them so fast that Harry even sat down and wondered where it went. Voldemort and his Death Eaters had been unnervingly quiet since the attacks on Hogsmeade. Harry had been expecting something to happen, but nothing had so far.  
  
It was now December and very cold outside. On Sunday, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went down to visit Hagrid. They had not talked to him in a while and wanted to see how things were with him.   
  
"'Bout time!" Hagrid boomed as soon as they had reached his hut and knocked on the door. "Yeh lot hadn't been here in weeks!"  
  
They came inside and sat down. Hagrid had more scratches than ever. "Hagrid," Harry said, getting his attention.  
  
"Hmm?" Hagrid answered.  
  
"Has Grawp been giving you those scratches?"  
  
Hagrid felt of his face. "Oh," he said, "those. Well, yeh see, Harry, he's gotten loads better now. 'E only scratches every now an' then..."  
  
"So, does he know more English now?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yeah, he knows a coupla words more than he did."  
  
The four of them talked a while, and when Harry asked him if he was doing any different work for the Order and Hagrid had just shrugged. "Been finding me somethin' I think," was all he had said.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Monday morning was threatening snow. Sure enough, after Harry had gotten ready to go to his first class (Potions) it began to snow, covering the castle and the ground quickly.   
  
Potions was as horrible as Harry expected it. He was given detention for no reason, which Malfoy thought was hilarious. His detention was to do anything Filch wanted him to do without magic tonight. He almost cursed Malfoy, but since Snape was watching, Harry decided not to.  
  
Herbology was difficult- they were working in the last greenhouse with plants that Professor Sprout said can sometimes choke you without warning. No one, luckily, was choked, so they proceeded to pick off its thorns as they were told, with the plant occassionally swinging at them with its large branches.   
  
Charms was extremely easy- they were covering basic work.  
  
Divination and Astronomy was so confusing that Harry didn't understand one word of it and decided to stare blankly around at anything but the stars.  
  
History of Magic, of course, was the most boring thing in the world, and Harry took no notes.  
  
Care of Magical Creatures was only a little interesting today. They were studying doxies- which Harry had had experience with before. Malfoy was almost bitten by one, which was the only thing interesting.  
  
And finally, the last day of the class, Transfiguration. This class, by far, was the most interesting of the day to Harry.  
  
"Apparition," Professor McGonagall began as soon as she had taken roll, "can be an extremely difficult process, depending on how well you are at it."  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were listening intently- and some of the seventh years who could already Apparate just sat and watched without much interest.  
  
"As you already know, you cannot Apparate or Dissapparate in Hogwarts so I cannot demonstrate this to you. Some of you do not know how to Apparate yet, and some of you do. Some wizards choose not to learn how to Apparate due to the risks it may have. You can be splinched during Apparition, which means that you leave behind half of your body in one place and take another part with you."  
  
A few people groaned at the mental image.  
  
"You can also end up in the wrong place, land in an area of curious muggles, or just have trouble with it alltogether. I will explain to you the basics of how to Apparate, for some of you who may want to get your license on Christmas break," she paused, her eyes wandering slightly towards Harry.   
  
Harry looked around at Ron and Hermione, who had not noticed McGonagall's look. Harry knew what it meant. Dumbledore had mentioned something to McGonagall or the Order about Harry getting his Apparition license on Christmas break.  
  
He sighed and McGonagall began speaking again.  
  
"Apparition does not have to be done with a wand. It simply takes the mind to focus on where it wants to go, and bringing the body with it. This is how people who are very new to Apparating get splinched. They focus, but then forget about the body. Half the body goes, the other doesn't. For some people it is easier to close their eyes and focus. After you get more experienced, it is not hard at all to Apparate."  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry and he looked back at them. They all three grinned.  
  
"When you get your license, you will start out small, like Apparating across the street. Then it might get harder, like Apparating in a different street, then maybe to a different part of the city. Most of the time you can get your license in Hogsmeade."  
  
For the rest of the time, she talked about the possible dangers of Apparating.   
  
When Harry left class to go to his dormitory, his stomach was churning uncomfortably. Mostly nerves and confusion was upsetting him. This whole Apparition thing sounded risky- but he wanted to do it anyway. He could see why many wizards preferred to travel another way.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Weeks passed and it was soon the middle of December and freezing cold at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione discovered that Hagrid had left for some reason. They had a feeling that it was something for the Order of the Phoenix so did not mention anything to the professors about it. Professor Grubbly-Plank was back again.  
  
Harry was starting to feel a little more tension now. Christmas break was near and that meant that Harry (and probably Ron and Hermione, he guessed) were going to get their Apparition licence soon. He thought--without amusement--what Voldemort would think of him if he was afraid of Apparating. This thought made him stronger every time and at one point was actually looking forward to it.  
  
Christmas came almost as fast as November flew by. The whole school was decorated, with real life icicles, holly, and small fairies. The suits of armor were cleaned to where they squeaked less often, and sang carols as you passed. There were four huge Christmas trees in the Great Hall, shining brightly as the floating candles' lights reflected against their glass ornaments. Many people went home, and the whole school was quieter, but still merry all the same.   
  
The air of Christmas made Harry feel good (along with Ron and Hermione) and he found himself smiling more often. It was the 23rd of December, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the common room alone. They were discussing Voldemort, when Professor McGonagall came into the common room.  
  
Not really noticing her, they still continued their conversation of Voldemort. Harry was upside-down in his chair- his legs propped against the chair's back, his body in the seat of the chair, and his head hanging off of it. His face was red from being upside down (and looking extremely ridiculous) and he was looking towards the (to him) upside-down Ron and Hermione, who were sitting beside each other on the couch.  
  
"--stupid prophecy! I wish I never had anything to do with Voldemort in the first place. Honestly, my whole life seems to revolve around killing the foulest thing I've ever seen. All he does is go after everyone's blood. My blood, your blood, muggles' blood, children's blood, the Order of the Phoenix's blood..." Harry was saying.  
  
"I would think, Potter, that you would be a bit more quieter shouting about the Order of the Phoenix," Professor McGonagall finally said, announcing her presence.  
  
Harry's upside-down head turned towards her, and she shot him a dissapproving look.  
  
"And honestly," Professor McGonagall said, rolling her eyes, "just what *are* you doing?"  
  
Harry sighed. "Discussing Voldemort and myself and desperately wishing he was dead," he answered casually, "while being upside-down and having blood run through my-- as Professor Snape says-- very thick and stupid head. Why?"   
  
Ron sniggered and Hermione smacked him lightly on the leg. McGonagall stared at Harry.  
  
"Because, Potter, the headmaster wants to see you, and the both of you as well," she gestured towards Ron and Hermione.   
  
"Okay," Harry said, putting himself in a correct position. As he stood up, his head throbbed painfully and he felt dizzy and lots of pressure on his head. He waddled sideways dangerously, holding his head, and the pressure and blood flowed out of his head quickly. Ron and Hermione stood as well, and they followed Professor McGonagall out.  
  
"Professor," Harry said, his head feeling a bit better, "why does Professor Dumbledore want us?"  
  
"You'll see, Potter."  
  
Harry shrugged and they made their way to the stone gargoyle. "Red Peppermints," McGonagall spoke to it, and it jumped aside.  
  
"Right, go ahead," Professor McGonagall said, and she walked away.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione progressed up to Dumbledore's office. Harry rapped his knuckles on Dumbledore's door and heard a "Come in, Harry," from inside.  
  
The three of them walked into his office. "How did you know it was me who knocked, Professor?" Harry asked, always curious how the headmaster knew everything.  
  
"Ahh," the older wizard answered, "I know you very well, Harry. You knock four times."  
  
Harry wondered what happened if someone else knocked four times, but decided not to question Dumbledore's judgment.  
  
"I have called all three of you in here to talk to you about something very important. It is about the three of you, and Apparating. I wanted to take all three of you to get your license today, if that is alright, for I have nothing else better to do and I hoped you wouldn't mind the company of an old man," Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"We'll go," Harry said immediately. He then looked at Ron and Hermione. "Right?" he asked, giving them a look that said 'you better say yes.'  
  
Ron and Hermione nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
"Well, that's settled," Harry said, grinning, "now or never, you reckon? Let's go!"  
  
Ron's face turned a little pale, but Hermione looked positively delighted.  
  
"Are you all ready now?" Dumbledore asked, slightly surprised at Harry's enthusiasm. "Shall we go?"   
  
They all nodded silently and exited the office.  
  
"Are we...umm...walking there?" Ron asked timidly.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, it's just in Hogsmeade," Dumbledore answered.  
  
"Oh," Ron said, "Right."  
  
As they walked down to the Entrance Hall, they met Ginny Weasley coming from one of the corridors. She looked at them and for some reason, gave an embarrased smile, and practically ran up the marble staircase.  
  
"What was that all about?" Ron said as soon as she had reached the top of the staircase and the four of them had reached the stone steps ouside.  
  
"Typical strange girl behavior," Harry answered. "They all act like that-- with the exception of Hermione, I guess," he added, for Hermione had snorted at the first comment.  
  
The trio didn't mind talking about things in front of the headmaster, who was listening in amusement.  
  
"Ms. Chang was not a good choice, Harry?" Dumbledore asked knowingly.  
  
"What?" Harry said loudly, "how did you know about that?"  
  
"Well, when you took her to Hogsmeade, you of course had someone watching you at the time. I just heard about it."  
  
Harry grunted. He should have known. "She constantly cried. I couldn't stand it. Anyway, enough about girls," he sighed.  
  
"Aww...poor little Harry not wanting to talk about girlies," Ron said in a babyish voice playfully.  
  
Harry felt a prickle of anger. Ron's voice reminded him of Bellatrix Lestrange.  
  
"Shut up," he snapped at Ron.  
  
Dumbledore, who was walking beside Harry, felt Harry's anger and wondered why the boy was so offended by Ron's mocking voice.   
  
Ron was a bit taken aback. "I was only joking," he muttered, before he fell silent.  
  
Harry calmed down. "I know, Ron, I was just..." he took a breath and started over. "Lestrange used to talk to me exactly like that. It had just reminded me. Sorry."  
  
"It's all right," Ron replied, relieved.  
  
"So, Professor," Hermione spoke from the other end of the line, "is there any news about V-Voldemort?"  
  
Professor Dumbledore paused a moment. "No," he answered. "He has been lying low since October."  
  
"That's good," Harry broke in, "and bad."  
  
"Bad?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yes. He could be planning something this very second."  
  
"Harry's right," Hermione said.   
  
"And whatever his plans could be," Harry sighed, "they're almost always going to involve death and destruction, so, yes, bad."  
  
"Have you had any visions of him, Harry, since your last one that I know of?" Dumbledore asked kindly.  
  
"Surprisingly, no," Harry said, looking ahead of him, deep in thought, "but my scar hurts occasionally. I'm used to it."  
  
They had finally reached Hogsmeade. When they came up by Honeydukes, two wizards stood by themselves; one holding a clipboard with papers. Harry did not recognize them.  
  
Both shook Dumbledore's hand as soon as the four of them had stopped beside the two others.  
  
"This is Lucas Johansen," Dumbledore gestured towards the kind wizard with the clipboard, "and this is Marcus Pritchard."   
  
Lucas had hazel eyes with brown hair that was neatly slicked back. He looked around his late 30's. Marcus looked about the same age, with blue eyes, freckles, and red hair. Both looked like very nice people.   
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled at them politely. "I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said.  
  
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron said grinning.   
  
"Ah..." Lucas said, "Arthur Weasley's son?"  
  
Ron nodded.  
  
"And I'm--" Harry began to introduce himself.  
  
"Harry Potter," Marcus and Lucas finished, smiling. "We know."  
  
"Right," Harry said and noticed that they didn't stare at his scar. He smiled.  
  
Lucas wrote down their names on seperate, small sheets of paper that had several lines and blanks on it. "You are all seventeen, correct?" he asked when he finished.   
  
All of them nodded.  
  
"We are going to explain a few things to you," Lucas said and turned towards Marcus.  
  
Marcus looked sideways at Lucas then turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We, of course, are here to teach you to Apparate correctly and to award you your license. We will keep your licenses, though, and they will be kept at the Ministry of Magic where everyone else's licenses are kept."  
  
Marcus paused and pointed across the street. "We are going to start by simply Apparating across the street. After you pass that, we will move on. Lucas will be recording and checking off your progress. Now that that's explained, I will tell you *how* to Apparate."  
  
He cleared his throat and smiled. "Apparating is simple, really, after you get used to it. It is the ability of the mind to transport with the body, of course. To apparate, you have to concentrate on the name or vision of where you want to go, and almost *push* your mind to go there. But you cannot forget to take your body, or you will be splinched. After the first few times of Apparating, taking your body with you will become second nature and you can Apparate more easily and quicker. Any questions so far?"  
  
Hermione spoke up. "What do you mean by 'concentrating on the name or vision of where you want to go'?"  
  
"I meant that you can either vision the name of the place you want to go in your head, or vision the surroundings of the place you want to go. You can concentrate on that, give your mind and body a kind of *push* and then you Apparate. Any more questions?"  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads.  
  
"Right," Marcus said. "Are you ready to begin?"  
  
The three of them nodded and exchanged excited looks.  
  
Marcus closed his eyes. "It will probably be easier for you to close your eyes the first time. Remember, you want to go across the street. Look over there and remember what it looks like, and tell yourself you want to be over there. Then, vision it, and *push* yourself..."  
  
With a POP he Apparated across the street and opened his eyes.  
  
"Now you try."  
  
The three of them looked at each other and to Dumbledore, who's eyes were twinkling.  
  
Then they looked over to where Marcus was standing, and closed their eyes.  
  
They tried to remember the sidewalk, the wood of the shop beside it, the very location, tried to think of where Marcus was... then they pushed their minds...remembered their bodies..  
  
Harry opened his eyes irritably and looked at Ron and Hermione. They hadn't Apparated either.  
  
"It's all right, now, nobody gets it on the first try..." came Marcus's voice.  
  
Hermione looked over at the street and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. She then opened them and looked around, sighing.  
  
"It's not working," Ron said angrily.  
  
"It'll work, just keep trying," Dumbledore said.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated, then all of a sudden, there was a very faint pop, and she flickered. Literally.  
  
"Wow.." Harry said, "you just....just flickered or something!"  
  
"I did?" Hermione asked after opening her eyes.   
  
"Flickering is normal. It happens after you quit concentrating. You have to push yourself just a little bit further than what you did," Marcus said.  
  
"Oh," Hermione said, "I only quit concentrating because Harry told me I flickered. That's easy!"  
  
"Sorry," Harry muttered for the second time today.  
  
"It's okay it was pretty easy anyway. Like Marcus said, you just think of where you want to go- it's kind of like dreaming."  
  
Harry and Ron stared at her. She closed her eyes, concentrated for a moment, and with a POP she Apparated, landing on the ground and stumbling beside Marcus.   
  
"Excellent!" said Marcus, and Lucas checked off something on his clipboard. "Now, you two do it," Marcus said.  
  
Harry and Ron exchanged looks that said 'like we'll ever do that.'  
  
Harry then closed his eyes, concentrating really hard, then realized what Hermione said. 'It's like dreaming.' He then relaxed his mind, thinking of the street across from him, what was all around it, and he thought about standing right there. He told his mind to go there, thinking of his body as well, and then...  
  
POP!   
  
It was like turning on and off a television. While you are Apparating, things are black and you hear nothing, but as soon as your feet hit solid ground, everything comes back on.  
  
Harry landed on the hard sidewalk quite softly, but the shock of already landing made him stumble backwards and step on Hermione's foot. "Ouch!" she said.  
  
Harry forgot to say sorry this time. He had just Apparated. 'Wicked!!' he thought.  
  
Marcus smiled, Lucas checked off something from his checkboard, Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling again and he was smiling broadly, Ron had his arms crossed and was gaping at Harry and Hermione.  
  
"How do you *do* that?!?" Ron asked loudly.  
  
"You have to relax your mind, Ron," Harry said. "Like Hermione said, you almost have to dream it instead of thinking it."  
  
Ron huffed and closed his eyes for about three seconds. He opened them and said bitterly, "It didn't work!!"  
  
"It takes more than a few seconds..." said Harry, trying to encourage him.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes then closed them. He sat for a few minutes and everyone watched him, then POP! He Apparated beside Harry, and fell against him hard.   
  
"Wonderful! All of you! Now that you can Apparate across a street, let's try Apparating into another street that you haven't been down much." Marcus pointed down the street where a corner was. It lead into a darker alley. "This alley doesn't have a name, so you will have to think of the nameless alley in Hogsmeade. All right?"  
  
They all nodded. Lucas and Dumbledore walked down the street and stood beside the corner.  
  
Marcus Apparated into the alley.  
  
"Okay, Apparate!" they heard Marcus call.  
  
All three of them closed their eyes. For Harry, this time was a lot easier. He didn't have to relax his mind as much either. He closed his eyes, thought about the nameless alley in Hogsmeade, and at one time, all three of them Dissapparated with a POP!  
  
They landed in the dark alley, and at first they were afraid that they had landed at the wrong one, until Marcus came out of the shadows and grinned. "You're doing very well," he commented. "Now, one more time. We Apparate to the gates of Hogsmeade, just before the Apparition barrier begins at Hogwarts. I will go there now." He Dissapparated.  
  
Lucas also Dissapparated, leaving Dumbledore, who turned to them all. "Ready?" he asked.  
  
They nodded and Dissapparated.  
  
They all landed smoothly at the gates, and Dumbledore followed shortly after.  
  
"Congratulations!" Marcus said. "You all three have passed your Apparition tests. We will show you your certificates then we will take them to the Ministry of Magic where they will be kept."  
  
Lucas made a few more ticks on his clipboard then handed them each their certificates. Harry's read:  
  
This Apparition certificate certifies that-  
  
HARRY POTTER  
  
- is of age and can legally Apparate wherever he/she desires.  
  
Sex: Male  
  
Age when test taken: 17  
  
Tested by: Lucas Johansen and Marcus Pritchard  
  
Signatures: (Here were Lucas and Marcus's signatures)  
  
Minister of Magic: (Cornelius Fudge's signature was here)  
  
Date: December 23, 1996  
  
Harry smiled and gave Lucas back his certificate. Ron and Hermione did the same.  
  
After Lucas and Marcus said their goodbyes and Dissapparated, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore walked back to the castle, discussing the day's events.  
  
(A/N: Alright, so there's Chapter 14. Sorry it's taken sooooooo long. Well, since I've apologized, there's a teeny little favor I must ask of you: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, PLEASE! Review as much as you like, as long as you DON'T FLAME me!!!! THANKS!) 


	15. Lupin's Christmas Letter

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
**Yay! Thanks a bunch for the reviews. For a treat I have posted Chapter 15 a few weeks earlier than a month. LOL okay..okay...enough rambling from my unshuttupable mouth. (I don't even think that's a word..)   
  
Anyway, I'm glad I've got past eighty on my reviews. Now, here's the review replies......  
  
~Elessar: Thank you!!  
  
~saman007uk0: Thanks for the comments! I tried to get it up earlier than a few weeks...but the month went by faster than I thought..!  
  
~PhoenixPadfoot89: Thanks- yep, it'll help eventually. For at least one of them anyway.  
  
~Sea-Turtles: Hey! Wow... Thanks a lot!...and your welcome that I made your day better! I'm glad it got better for you. I like making people feel better. It makes me feel better too! You deserve every bit of wonderful comments you can get! :-) Nah, I won't email you spam. I know how it feels to get all that stuff LOL my inbox is full of it! We should start a procrastinating club- hehehe.. Anyways I'm really really happy that you like my story! Your story rocks and I can't wait till you update!! ^_^  
  
~Janet: You did? Ahh! No I promise you I won't abandon it. If I did I would post it on here. But if for some reason I don't, it's because I'm like unable to or something. Anyway, hmm...let's see...Chapter 16 is when his scar hurts I think. There will be another one though!  
  
~Musicstarlover: Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! I finally got chapter 15 up LOL.  
  
~Kelzery: Thanks! I'm glad you like it.  
  
~kraeg001: LOL Yeah, I should have made her explode instead of the goblets, right? hehe..  
  
~mscs3 (Mel): Thank you! Here's chapter 15....  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 15- Lupin's Christmas Letter  
  
Harry awoke two days later from getting his license to the sound of ripping. Confused at first, he sat up. As soon as he did, he met a very cheerful Ron. "Happy Christmas!" he said brightly.  
  
"Err...Happy Christmas, Ron," Harry said, looking down at the end of his bed, where many presents lay. He smiled and grabbed one. It was from Hermione. She had given him a Quality Quidditch Supplies catalog, along with a box that if you put something in it and closed the lid, the item shrank, and when you closed the lid again, it returned to its original size.  
  
Ron gave him a basket full of sweets, Mrs. Weasley gave him the usual pies and a sweater, Fred and George got him some Skiving Snackboxes, and Lupin gave him- surprisingly enough- a letter. There was no package as usual. Harry opened it, confused, and read the letter.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
  
  
Happy Christmas! All of us at the Order and myself hope you are well. You may have wondered why I did not send you a regular Christmas present. I figured that the present I need to tell you about is enough. I put this letter on your bed while you were asleep. I wanted to tell you something. Please read this carefully.  
  
Sirius, a few weeks before he died, had given me a letter and told me to only open it if something happened to him. I had agreed and placed it in a book, and forgot about it after he died. While planning my lessons a few weeks ago, I opened the book I placed it in and the letter fell out.  
  
Upon reading it, I knew I needed to contact you about it as well. Please come by my office at 2:00 today. I need to tell you what the letter contains, for it is very important.   
  
Once again, Happy Christmas,  
  
Remus Lupin  
  
Harry reread the letter then looked up at Ron, who wasn't paying much attention and munching on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "Ron," said Harry.  
  
Ron looked over at him. "Read this," Harry whispered, thinking. What was so important about that letter Sirius had written before he died? His stomach and heart seemed to be dancing around, his emotions confused. Thinking of Sirius made him sad and angry, the contents of the letter making him confused and excited.  
  
Ron read the letter and pulled a bewildered face. "What d'you reckon it is?"  
  
Harry shrugged and shook his head. Hermione came into the dormitory, wished Ron and Harry a Happy Christmas, then turned to Ron again. "We have Head Boy and Girl duties, Ron, and we need to refreeze the icicles because Professor McGonagall says they are melting--"  
  
She broke off abruptly when she saw Harry and Ron's puzzled faces. "What?" she panted, slightly out of breath.  
  
Ron handed the letter to Hermione. She read the letter and looked at Harry.  
  
"I think I know what this means," she said quietly.  
  
"What? What does it mean?" Harry asked frantically.  
  
"I think that Sirius left something like a will before he died, and you and Remus have something to do with it."  
  
Harry didn't answer as she handed the letter back to him. A will? Does this mean Harry has inherited something? He wondered what, and didn't notice that Ron and Hermione had left to go refreeze the icicles. He sat and stared at the letter, his hand trembling slightly.  
  
As he changed clothes and put his new presents in their proper places, he felt a single tear run down his cheek. He wiped it away furiously, not even sure why he was crying, and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ron and Hermione were not there.  
  
To his surprise, as he looked around, no one was there. No teacher, no student. Just him, with a cloudy, cold sky acting as the ceiling above. He shrugged and ate.   
  
He had a great choice of foods, but he enjoyed it a lot less that no one was in the Great Hall with him. He left shortly after, the silence so loud that he couldn't take it.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry waited impatiently in the common room for it to become 2:00 so that he could talk to Remus. It was 11:00 now, and Ron and Hermione had returned from Head Boy and Girl duties. The three of them were sitting quietly in the common room, thinking of what to do. Then, an obvious thought came into his head.  
  
"Hey," he said, gaining their attention, "how about we go to Hogsmeade?"  
  
The couple agreed and soon enough they were entering the gates to Hogsmeade.  
  
They went to Honeydukes first, buying all kinds of sweets, sharing laughs at certain new brands, like "Tongue Twisting Tarts" that after swallowing, made your tongue twist and leave you impossible to talk for several hours. There was also an "Echoing Candies" that made your voice have an echo.  
  
They purchased several things there, including a huge slab of chocolate, and went to Zonko's. There they didn't get to stay long because Hermione dragged them to The Three Broomsticks to get a butterbeer. There they talked shortly before Harry glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 1:55.   
  
He took a last long sip of his butterbeer for he abruptly stood. Hermione and Ron looked at him.  
  
"It's almost two," he stated as he saw their confused faces, "Lupin will be waiting for me. I'll see you two later!"  
  
He wanted to get there as soon as possible. Remembering that he was an Animagus, he transformed into wolf form, glanced around cautiously, and took off to the castle quickly. He was delighted to be able to finally run around as a wolf. It seemed as if his mind was less troubled like this....  
  
Soon enough he was inside the castle, and panting slightly. He transfigured and was still panting, except obviously more like a person. He walked slowly at first toward Lupin's office, then picked up the speed. He ran through the winding corriders and staircases and reached Lupin's office, going so fast he actually ran into the door with a bang, hitting his head.  
  
He swore and put his hand to his head, staring at the door furiously, rubbing the spot where it was stinging. He wondered why in the world he didn't stop sooner instead of running headlong into the door....  
  
But as soon as he was about to knock on the door, a surprised Professor Lupin opened it and looked down at Harry. "Are you all right? Sounded like you ran into the door or something..."  
  
"I did, and it kind of hurt," replied Harry dryly.  
  
"Oh," Lupin said, leading him inside and shutting that "blasted door" as Harry had called it.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," Harry apologized as soon as he sat down, "I was all the way in Hogsmeade and realized I only had five minutes to get here..."  
  
Lupin nodded his head in understanding. "It's all right, I really didn't have much to do today." For some reason he changed the subject abruptly, seemingly not in the mood for chit-chat, "so I assume you received my letter?"  
  
Harry nodded his less throbbing head. "Yes."  
  
Lupin sat down behind his desk and put his face in his hands tiredly for a moment as Harry watched him closely. Lupin sighed and pulled out a letter from his desk drawer.  
  
"I figure I should get straight to the point," he said quietly, "Sirius has left a will."  
  
Harry wasn't surprised. He had figured Hermione's guess was right. Lupin glanced at him for a moment and continuing.  
  
"I really don't know how to say it..." he faltered, handing the letter he had removed from its envelope to Harry. Harry glanced down at it and recognized Sirius's handwriting. It read, "To my best friend, Remus J. Lupin, and my godson, Harry J. Potter."  
  
Seeing Sirius's handwriting again made him struck with sadness, but he opened the letter nonetheless:  
  
  
  
Dear Remus and Harry,  
  
If you are reading this, I must regret to say I have passed away. Seeing as I have few possessions, I have decided to give them to you two, my closest friends and like family to me. Remus, make sure you show Harry this. I want you both to know that I love you, and that I know you two will not fight over my possessions, or I will have your heads in some way.  
  
(Harry paused here, a tear running down his cheek, wondering how in the world Sirius could be so funny in a letter concerning his death. He read on...)  
  
Grimmauld Place and everything in it now belongs to you two. You both decide on what to do with it. Hell, you could even burn the place down. It holds nothing but bad memories for me. However, I assume the Order still needs it, so maybe you shouldn't burn it down.  
  
Vault 252 at Gringotts is my old vault. It doesn't have much in it, except for some money that you two can split up.   
  
Buckbeak is, I'm assuming, still in the house. Don't get rid of him, Remus. I don't think he would like to leave the house. You can feed him dead rats- he likes them just fine. Make sure he gets attention though.  
  
As for Kreacher, I don't know what to do with him. He has probably ran away now, and tried to take that dratted picture of my mother with him, but if he's not gone, you two decide what to do with him.  
  
Remus, I want you to hang in there. Being a werewolf's got to be hard, but I want you to be there for Harry.  
  
Harry, first of all I want to say that I'm sorry for not being the greatest godfather. I wish I could have spent more time with you. I want you to keep going with life, and like I said to Remus, hang in there. You've had a hard life and life's going to get harder, but you're tough. You'll get through it. I know you will.  
  
I want you both to try hardest to get rid of him. You know who I'm talking about.  
  
Sirius Black  
  
Harry set down the letter on the desk and put his face in his hands, trying to hide the fresh tears that ran down his face. He wiped them away, for no one would see him cry. He sniffed, and tried to act normal in front of Lupin, who had put the letter away.   
  
"I know you probably don't want to talk about it," Lupin said gently, "but since we both share Sirius's things, we both need to agree on what to do with them. Now. About Grimmauld Place--"  
  
"I think we should leave it for the Order," Harry interrupted firmly.  
  
"I thought so as well. Now, as for the vault at Gringotts, I haven't been there yet, and I think that maybe we should go there at the end of the year and see what is contained in it."  
  
"If it's money, I don't need it," Harry said, not in the mood to argue.  
  
Lupin looked down at the desk and fingered a knot that was on it distractedly. "But, Harry, that's not fair--"  
  
"Yes, it is," Harry answered quickly, "I have plenty of money in my vault. You need money more than I do anyway."  
  
He didn't say it to offend Lupin, but Lupin, on the contrast, smiled.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Harry?"  
  
"Yes," Harry repeated firmly.  
  
"I guess I could do with some new robes..." he trailed off, smiling. He looked at his robes which had holes in them as usual.  
  
Harry tried to smile during his time of emotional stress after reading Sirius's will and seeing his handwriting again. He remembered how Sirius had signed the will. "Professor," Harry said.  
  
Lupin looked up at him.  
  
"The will said, 'I want you both to try hardest to get rid of him. You know who I'm talking about.' Didn't he mean Voldemort?"   
  
Lupin nodded and changed the subject. "Do you have an opinion on what to do with Kreacher?"   
  
Harry shook his head and looked down. "You can decide what to do there. I know nothing about what the Order wants."  
  
For some reason, Lupin sat and stared at him for the longest time. He seemed to be thinking hard about something. "By the end of the year," Lupin leaned forward and whispered, "the Order will be recruiting new members."  
  
Harry stared at him skeptically. He couldn't understand why Lupin was telling him this. He had nothing to do with recruiting new Order of the Phoenix members.   
  
But he was jolted out of his thoughts when he had the vision of Snape coming towards the door. "Snape's coming," Harry whispered.  
  
Lupin looked towards the door, and sure enough an impatient knock came and the Potions Master stepped in.  
  
"Well, Lupin," he said, sneering at Harry, "I just wanted to know if you were expecting me to make you Wolfsbane again."  
  
Lupin nodded. "Yes, and thank you, Professor Snape."  
  
Professor Snape didn't reply and left as quickly as he came.  
  
"Well, I must be going," said Harry, standing up after a slightly uncomfortable silence. "Thanks for telling me, Professor."  
  
Lupin once again nodded. As Harry left Lupin's office deep in thought, he wanted to sit down and think some more for he didn't expect Ron and Hermione to be back from Hogsmeade.  
  
But he was wrong. It seemed that the two had arrived back to the common room early to hear what Harry had to say. Ginny was also in the room, and this time she didn't act embarrased to see anyone. They were all on the couch discussing things, and stopped when Harry entered. He wondered vaguely if they were talking about him, but put the thoughts aside.  
  
He walked across the room and sat down beside Ron. "So," Hermione asked tentatively, unsure if Harry was in a bad mood or not. Lately it had become harder to read his emotions. It was like he was wearing a constant mask, "what- what did Lupin say?"  
  
Harry looked at Hermione's slightly frightened smile and frowned. He didn't want her to be afraid to ask him questions. He then put on the best smile he could and spoke. "You were right, Hermione, it was his will."  
  
"Well, what did it say?" Ron asked. Ginny was listening curiously in. Crookshanks was curled at Hermione's feet, and almost seemed to be listening in as well.  
  
Harry hesitated for a moment. "It said that Lupin and I had inherited all of Sirius's things."  
  
Nobody said anything for a moment, and then Ron burst out:  
  
"Like...."   
  
"Like Grimmauld Place."  
  
"Only Grimmauld Place?" Ginny asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what else?" Ron pressed on.  
  
"Look, you two are going to have to stop badgering me," Harry said a bit snappishly.  
  
That shut them up. They leaned back in the couch and waited as patiently as possible.  
  
Harry sighed and continued. He told of what the will said, and what decisions were made between Lupin and himself.   
  
"I think Kreacher should be chucked out or just die," Ron said bluntly.  
  
Hermione gaped at him. "That's horrible, Ron!"  
  
"Well, he lied to Harry."  
  
"He lied to Harry just like any other house elf would do if their masters' family asked them to!"  
  
"Well, the Malfoy's shouldn't have access to the house elf that stays at the Order of the Phoenix!"  
  
"I agree with you there," Hermione mumbled, "but I think they should modify his memory--"  
  
"That's a lot of memory to forget. We're talking three or four years!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"You didn't let me finish!" Hermione said impatiently, "I think they should modify his memory and release him. But they shouldn't kill him.."  
  
"I don't think house-elves can even be released by someone that's not their master," Harry protested.  
  
They all shrugged. Although Hermione had given up on S.P.E.W., she still protested against house-elf "enslavement."  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
The next day, Harry was in a bad mood. He had no idea why, but everything was just boring and stupid to him. And today was a bad day to been in a bad mood, because Potions was still their first class of the day.  
  
"Get your cauldrons ready," Snape said, apparently in a fairly all right mood.  
  
Harry took his cauldron and prepared to light a fire under it. He then added water and watched it boil.  
  
"Now, the instructions are on the board. Get to work. I should hear no talking."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes and glanced at the bored. He then realized he had already messed up; accidentally adding too much of the first ingredient.  
  
Harry knew Snape was behind him. He had had the vision.   
  
"Potter, you are the worst potion-maker I have ever seen," he smirked.  
  
Harry felt his anger rise and failed to keep it down.  
  
"Well," he said in a cold voice that was a bit frightening, "I'm so sorry I can't be such a brilliant potion-maker. Would you prefer me to leave the classroom?" he added dryly.  
  
"Don't use that tone with me, Potter--"  
  
"I'm sick of it, Professor. Would you, for one day, judge me by being Harry Potter, and not my father? I know you think I'm spoiled and whatever, but you have no idea. But if I was spoiled, why do I wake up every morning and wonder if today will be that day I die? No one should think that way, Professor, but I do. So please, lay off me." He sighed and vanished the contents of his own cauldron.  
  
Snape was staring at him, something with a mixture of anger and confusion. The whole class was also staring. "Detention, Potter," he said, his voice full of frustration, "stay after class."  
  
"Fine," Harry snapped.  
  
After class, Harry stayed after and everyone left the classroom slowly, trying to glimpse what his detention was.  
  
"Get out," Snape snarled, "I didn't ask the whole class to stay after."  
  
The class then shuffled out quickly.  
  
Harry went up to Snape's desk, and stared at him straight in the eye piercingly.  
  
"Potter, you have detention tonight at 7:30 here. You are to scrub the floors. Don't be late," he said.  
  
Harry grunted his understanding and left. That was a short meeting.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry went through the rest of the day, still in his bad mood, but never losing his temper again. Harry had told Ron and Hermione about his detention. After all the classes were finished, Ron asked Harry if he was going to Quidditch Practice at 5:00 that afternoon. He nodded yes, since he had plenty of time to get to the dungeons.  
  
At five o'clock, practice went overall well. Harry had quickly captured the Snitch many times, and the other players were doing great. The cold air, however, drove them back inside the castle earlier than Harry expected.  
  
Seven o'clock rolled around and Harry was changing back into his school robes to get ready for detention. Harry was mumbling the whole time about how he hated scrubbing, and soon he was grudgingly dragging his feet toward Snape's classroom.  
  
He knocked on the door to his detention.  
  
(A/N: Sorry it's a cliffy. Don't worry, nothing special's going to happen as soon as the door opens, so you don't have to worry. Review & Review!! Like I said before, review as many times as you like- as long as you DON'T FLAME me!!!!! Thank you very muchly! ^_^) 


	16. Shocking Severus Snape

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
Getting closer to 90 reviews! Yay! Thank you so much for all of them. Here's the replies.  
  
~Stahchild: *huge grin* Thank you very muchly!!! Original was exactly what I was shooting for. As for it taking so long to get Harry, it's because they had no idea where he was! lol. They knew Voldemort had him, and that Voldemort had his own little hideout, but they didn't know where it was. The Fortress of Shadows is unplottable, so there could be no help with maps. The fortress only appears when you get a certain distance close to it. (I should have put that in the story, shouldn't I?) It took the Order a long time to find him!! Thank you for the comments though!!!   
  
~SnakeDynasty: Cool!!....thank you so much!   
  
~Kevin-McKay: LOL thanks! Oh okay, I wasn't sure whether people would think that was a cliffy or not...lol. I'm glad you reviewed!  
  
~musicstarlover: That *is* evil!!!! *sniffs* Mean FF.net people....anyway, oh well. Thanks for reading and for the comments!!!!!!!  
  
~PhoenixPadfoot89: Thank you! Ohh...good movie. I really liked it. I want the DVD for it but I don't have the money right now! LOL I've read some of your stories and you're a good writer!   
  
~saman007uk0: LOL don't worry, I've still got err...around eight more chapters to write & post!  
  
I hope you guys find this funny. I laughed when I wrote it! Enjoy!!!  
  
Chapter 16- Shocking Severus Snape  
  
"Enter," said Snape's cold voice as Harry knocked on the door.   
  
Harry walked in, noticing how dark it was inside until Snape lit the torches.  
  
"You know what to do," he pointed over to a bucket of water, with some soap, and a toothbrush. There was also a rag. "Do it all the muggle way," he growled. "Now get to work."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, hating Snape, and walked over to the bucket. He knew how to do this stuff. He did it all the time when he was at the Dursleys. For a vague moment he wondered how the Dursleys were doing. He then scowled at himself for even thinking of being concerned for their well-being, and got on his knees beside the bucket.  
  
He had a vision then; Snape was watching him. He sighed and picked up the toothbrush, dipped it in the water, brushed it over the soap, and started at the corner of the room, where there was all kinds of grime. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, not because it smelled, but because it looked horrible.   
  
Disgruntled, he took the toothbrush and poked at it with the bristles. It stubbornly did not budge. So, he scrubbed at it roughly, only pausing to look at the toothbrush, which was becoming increasingly green. He scrubbed and scrubbed, going around the edges of the room. Snape still sat at his desk watching, writing down grades on papers occasionally. Harry threw him occasional dirty looks, but continued his work. His right hand and arm was becoming sore, and he couldn't use his left arm because he was right-handed and it was hard to scrub with his left.  
  
As he finished the edges of the room's floor, he sighed again and walked back over to the bucket. There he washed out his toothbrush again, soaped it, and washed it out again. It was still a sick-looking green. He threw it on the floor and picked up the rag, which he dipped in the water, and became wiping off the floor.   
  
This did not hurt his arm and hand as much, but it was still irritating. He wiped and wiped, crawling along the floor foolishly, sweat running down his forehead. He wiped it furiously and continued until he met a peice of stubborn grime on the floor. Without thinking about Snape watching him, he turned and held out his hand toward the toothbrush across the room.  
  
Snape watched as Harry summoned the toothbrush with his hand. He widened his eyes and he stood quickly. Harry looked up in alarm at him. "What the hell was that, Potter?" Snape asked, dumbstruck. He had forgot about watching his language as well.  
  
"What was what?" Harry asked innocently, realizing what Snape was on about.  
  
"That...what you just did. That hand thing, the Summoning Charm," he said coldly and impatiently.  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow and set down the rag and toothbrush. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"You do, Potter. Tell me what you did, NOW!"  
  
"ALL RIGHT!" Harry shouted back, now frustrated, "I did a wandless Summoning Charm, obviously, without thinking."  
  
Snape scowled at him for a moment. He would report this power...thing...to the headmaster. He was quite shocked, he had never seen anything like that before. And least of all, something like that from Harry Potter. Not knowing what to say for the first time in his life, he sat down and said, "Get back to work."  
  
Harry shook his head. He picked up the rag, and wiped...and wiped...and wiped...his mind began to wander. Vaguely aware that he was wiping the floor, he heard furious things in his head..  
  
'Wormtail, you fool!' It was Voldemort. 'M..m..master..' That was Wormtail.  
  
There, Harry's scar burnt, he dropped the rag and held his hand to his head. Voldemort was mad about something...'You bumbling idiot!' Voldemort spoke again. His scar seared with pain and he winced.  
  
Harry fell back onto the floor, holding his head. The voices from his head faded, and the ones from the world around him came back..."Potter! Get up!"  
  
Harry leaned up to see Snape's stupid face in front of him. His scar still ached, but it was less painful. He bent to pick up the rag again, but Snape jerked it away from his reach roughly. "Get out, Potter. You're done. I'm sick of your presence, get out!"  
  
Harry, confused, stood and walked out, stumbling a bit. Snape did not see Harry place a waxing charm on the floor as he left. Snape waved his wand and made the bucket, rag, and toothbrush dissapear. He then turned to walk to the headmaster's office to report everything about that fool of a student, Potter, but when he took the first step....  
  
FLOOMP! Snape's feet flew out from under him and he fell on his back to the floor. He swore loudly, and groaned. He heard Potter laugh outside and then run down the corridor. He growled angrily and made to stand, but he fell on his bottom roughly. He then furiously crawled along the floor on his hands and knees, muttering and swearing about Potter, slightly sliding across the floor, his bones aching. He finally reached the door and stood outside it, scowling, brushing off his robes and straightening them. His greasy hair was in all directions.  
  
The Potions Master walked down the hall painfully, keeping a constant scowl on his face. He did not see Potter on his way. (Good thing, because Snape was in a hexing mood.) He walked up the stairs and down corridors, until he came to the gargoyles. He said the password and walked up the stairs again, before knocking harshly on the door.  
  
Albus Dumbledore opened it and smiled. "Good evening, Severus."  
  
"Horrible evening, more like, Headmaster," he drawled.  
  
Dumbledore motioned for him to sit, with a bit of an amused look on his face.  
  
Snape sat slowly, as Dumbledore went to the chair behind his desk.  
  
"Do you interrogate everyone like this?" Snape asked out of temper.  
  
"Yes. I find it better if you keep eye contact," Dumbledore answered simply.  
  
"Now, Severus, what may I ask is bothering you?"  
  
Snape mumbled and grumbled until he furiously spat, "Potter!!!"  
  
"Ahh," Dumbledore said. He should have expected this. The two loathe each other. "Harry is bothering you how?"  
  
"He's--" Snape was about to say that the boy being alive bothered him, but Dumbledore would be furious with him.  
  
"He's--Well, I gave Potter detention, because he lost his temper with me in class. I had him scrub the floors, and then he reached for the toothbrush, but the toothbrush...er...came to him. Absurd sounding, I know."  
  
"It is not absurd, Severus," Dumbledore said, sighing. "I know about it."  
  
"What?" Snape asked, caught a bit off guard, "you know about that summoning thing?"  
  
"Yes. He's had the power for quite a while. He gained it over the summer."  
  
Snape snorted. "You mean he actually learned how to do something?"  
  
"Not exactly. He just reached for something, and it accidentally came to him."  
  
Snape wanted to roll his eyes. "And where did that...ability....come from?"  
  
"Voldemort," the headmaster answered simply.  
  
Snape hated when he did that. Just saying the name out of nowhere. And there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
Snape just nodded quickly, then he spoke, anger coming back. "Then he placed some kind of charm, a Waxing Charm I guess, on the floor before he left. Imbecile.."  
  
Dumbledore looked like he wanted to laugh. He had wondered why Snape's hair was in every direction and he looked very upset.  
  
"I see. And it made you--"  
  
"It made me fall all over the place, Headmaster, and I assure you it is not funny."  
  
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched, but he bit down a laugh and smile, and scratched his beard.  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
"No, his stupid head hurt while we were in there."  
  
Dumbledore stopped internally laughing. "What did he say?"  
  
"Nothing whatsoever, Headmaster."  
  
"Yes.." he mumbled distractedly, "Anything else?"  
  
"Yes. The boy is a fool. That's all I wanted to tell you," Snape growled, standing and heading to the door.  
  
"Severus," Dumbledore called. Snape froze and turned. "Please, do not mention any of this information to anyone."  
  
Snape exited after nodding grumpily.  
  
Here is when Dumbledore burst out laughing, "A Waxing Charm!"   
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry smiled all the way up to the common room which was thankfully empty. Ron and Hermione seemed to have gone to bed. He looked up at a calendar that was on the wall. It was February 1st. How can it already be that? He laid his head back and rubbed his eyes. His head still stung every once in a while, but otherwise it was not bothering him.  
  
But what he had heard bothered him. What was Voldemort angry about? What did Wormtail do to make him so furious? His head seared again, and he decided he should go to bed. He could think about that later.  
  
As soon as he slipped on his pajamas in the dormitory, he heard Ron give a particularly loud snore and wondered if he was faking it. He shrugged, and made to lie down on the bed. Sleep wasn't coming easy tonight...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It was next morning and the headmaster sat alone in his office, deep in thought. Last night's events, when Harry's scar hurt, made him wonder if they boy actually saw or heard something. If he did, he would have obviously not told Severus Snape of all people...  
  
This brought his head back to Occlumency. It had been two years since the boy had actually attempted it. He doubted the teenager attempted to block his mind while he was in the Fortress of Shadows since he was near Voldemort constantly.  
  
He wondered if he should try it again. It would be extremely soon that Harry would be graduating from Hogwarts...4 months. It was possible that Harry could move far from here, and never keep in contact with the wizarding world again...and Voldemort would prevail. It was a horrifying thought, but he didn't think Harry would leave the wizarding world. He understood his place in this war.  
  
The headmaster sighed. He should begin training him for Occlumency again. He was still in danger of Voldemort invading his mind...and he needed to be prepared. He wondered if Harry would refuse. He wondered if Harry would not practice...or simply give up...  
  
He decided quickly. He would train Harry in Occlumency. He just needed to figure out when to tell Harry, and when to hold training sessions. He knew today was going to be a long day as ten owls came in through the window with letters. 'What is it now, Cornelius?' he thought as he began tearing them open.  
  
(A/N: I know this is a short chapter. But I think the Snape part was funny. And I think Dumbledore should have a good old laugh every once in a while. ^_^ Please review. No flames- buckets of water will be thrown at them!) 


	17. Not in a Nice Mood, Are We?

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
¤ Eeek! Months go by SOO fast! I just realized how late I was on posting here---!  
  
Okay here are replies:  
  
~Siri Kat: Here you go, thanks for reviewing! Sorry if this chapter makes no sense- I think I was crazy when I wrote it.  
  
~PhoenixPadfoot89: LOL late St. Patrick's Day to you! I haven't updated in more than a month...but Thanks for the review and you're welcome--your stories are great. No, I don't think you have as many spelling and grammar mistakes. Well hey, at least people can read and understand it! I most certainly can. They're really good. I have two really big favorites. Fudge was bothering Dumbledore with Ministry questions again, being annoying... Anyways, thanks again for the review!  
  
~Madam Whitbrook: *sigh* I told you all I was a bad procrastinator....oh well. As for the OOCness, sorry. I didn't know I was so out of character on someone...my bad!  
  
~Kevin-McKay: Thank you! I loved the waxing charm too- I couldn't resist it. Ah, good guess. You'll find out what Wormtail did/didn't do a few chapters later. I think I'm fitting it into Chapter 20. ^_^  
  
  
  
Here we go, on with the strangeness!  
  
I'm warning you, this chapter is weird.*****  
  
Chapter 17- Not in a Nice Mood, Are We?  
  
It was Valentine's Day.  
  
And Harry hated it.  
  
No, he didn't hate it. That was an understatement. He *loathed* it.  
  
He sat in the common room with his head in his hands. Ron and Hermione were giggling beside him. They, to Harry's dismay, were celebrating the wretched holiday. They had been even more loving to each other all morning, and Harry tried hard not to scream in frustration.  
  
He didn't know why he didn't like Valentine's Day so much. Maybe it was because he didn't have anyone to celebrate it with. Maybe he just had a sudden hatred for it. Or maybe, it was just all the cheerfullness that annoyed him. Whatever it was, he knew that today was not going to be a good day. Every bit of him hoped that there would be no stupid goblins waiting in the hallways to ambush students and sing Valentine songs to them...  
  
He shuddered at the thought, and started to get annoyed. Ron and Hermione's giggling had become louder, and Harry even stuck his fingers in his ears to drop a hint. But no, they didn't see it. He rolled his eyes and stood abruptly. They didn't even see that.  
  
Harry briefly closed his eyes and stomped out of the Common Room. With a disgruntled look on his face, he marched with dread to the Great Hall, which was covered with decorations for Valentine's Day. He almost gagged and ran out of the hall, but his stomach rumbled, and he made his way toward the Gryffindor table.  
  
Sitting down, he eyed all the couples around him apprehensively. He put some food on his plate and wondered if he could eat with all the giggling and present-swapping around him. A few people were on the verge of snogging. He looked up at the staff table with an uncontrollable scowl and found that Dumbledore was watching him.  
  
Dumbledore tilted his head a little to the side and smiled kindly. Harry tried to return the smile as much as possible before pushing his plate away. Two fifth years were kissing. He glared at them.  
  
"Mind doing that somewhere else?" he growled, pointing his spoon at them.  
  
They looked up at him, eyed his spoon warily, and with a roll of their eyes (which Harry returned with an ice cold stare) they stood and exited the hall. He sighed and looked back at the staff table at Dumbledore, who had his eyebrows raised at Harry's grumpiness.   
  
Harry looked down with a bit of embarrassment and put his spoon down gently. People were looking at him after he told off the kissing couple.   
  
He gave them a fake smile and stood to exit the hall as soon as possible. He glanced at the staff table again at Dumbledore, who had returned to his plate but was watching Harry out the corner of his eyes.   
  
He almost ran out of the hall, where everything was all cheery, and was about to go back to the Common Room where he could avoid contact with all people until he ran into Ron and Hermione on the corridor to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
They were skipping down the corridor hand-in-hand, and Harry was about to rip his hair out with frustration, until they stopped and looked at him.  
  
"Good morning," they said pleasantly.  
  
Harry didn't get it. Why were they just now wishing him a good morning, when he had been sitting in the Common Room with them a few minutes ago? Was he being ignored that much?  
  
"Yeah, good morning all right," he said grumpily.  
  
"What's wrong, mate? Surely you can find a girl to take with you everywhere--" Ron began with a grin.  
  
"No, it makes no difference to me. I can hide in the dormitory," answered Harry nonchalantly.  
  
Hermione frowned. "Nonsense, it's Valentine's Day!"  
  
"Whoop-tee-doo," Harry replied sarcastically. "What's the big deal anyway? Hearts and little pink things- they're all annoying to me."  
  
"It's a holiday of love, Harry! Come on...let's go to the Great--"  
  
"No way am I going back to that snogging swamp--"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous and stubborn--"  
  
"Stubborn and proud of it, more like--"  
  
Ron sighed. "Hermione, let him be. If he hates Valentine's Day, then he hates Valentine's Day!"  
  
"Thank you for that genius observation, Ron," said an annoyed Harry, crossing his arms.  
  
"All right..all right." Hermione gave in and she and Ron went down to the Great Hall, or rather "Snogging Swamp."  
  
He looked down at his legs, where there was a mewling Mrs. Norris staring at him.   
  
"What?" he asked irritably, "I'm not doing anything wrong and the last thing I want following me is you."  
  
He roughly shoved the startled cat out of the way with his left foot impatiently and stomped into the Common Room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Argus Filch, for once in a long time, was delighted. His precious cat would finally have a job. The staff told him to keep a good eye on Harry Potter when he was in the hallways, and he was going to do just that. Of course, they didn't mean follow him everywhere, but what harm was there in that?  
  
He assigned Mrs. Norris to follow the boy all over the place in the hallways. He thought it was funny, and he didn't like that Potter boy anyway. He didn't feel like walking after him, but he knew Mrs. Norris would do it. Aww...he loved that cat. As he thought of her, she walked into his office and he picked her up and gave her a kiss on the head.  
  
"How is it, my sweet? All you have to do is follow him no matter what, and I have no work to do!" he laughed raspily.  
  
The cat purred, happy that she had pleased her owner.  
  
He started a conversation with the cat, who of course, didn't answer back. Instead Filch answered himself. Anyone watching him would believe him mental.  
  
When he was done talking to Mrs. Norris, or rather to himself, he settled back in his chair.  
  
(A/N: I couldn't resist putting that in there. Hahahaa..)  
  
"Now, dear one, you stay out in the hallways, keep following him!"  
  
He closed his eyes and rested as his faithful cat with lamp-like eyes swiftly padded back into the hallways.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry was annoyed again. Now that Valentine's Day had passed, he had thought he would be in a better mood, but he was wrong. It seemed to him that Mrs. Norris had taken a strange liking to him (so he thought) and was following him everywhere he went.  
  
Whenever he woke up and went out of the Common Room, Mrs. Norris was there. Whenever he changed classes, or was walking to lunch, the cat was always hot on his heels. It had continued for several weeks now, and every day Harry was putting up with it less and less.  
  
He tried yelling at the cat, but it didn't disturb it. He even tried kicking it and throwing things at it, but Mrs. Norris only dodged the attack and continued to follow him. He so bad wanted to turn the cat into some other animal, like a fish, and feed her to the giant squid, but he knew he'd be in way too much trouble.  
  
It was a few weeks later that Harry was fed up with the foolish feline. He was walking back to the Common Room when Mrs. Norris let out a small meow from behind him. He wheeled around to stare at her straight in the eye.  
  
"What is your problem?!" he bellowed, his voice echoing around.  
  
The cat let out another meow.  
  
"You know, the shadowing thing is getting really old now," he growled at her. Before he could say another word, the best idea came into his head. He grinned at her wickedly.  
  
"You're gonna be sorry for this," he said quietly. At that moment, he changed into his Animagus form.  
  
The large black wolf focused its vivid green eyes on the cat. The cat immediately went into defense mode, spitting and trying to make itself look bigger. Harry pulled back his ears and growled, showing his huge gleaming teeth.  
  
Mrs. Norris meowled loudly and turned the other direction where she promptly began running as fast as she could. She had nothing to climb...  
  
Harry was snapping at her heels, his nails clicking on the hard floor. He did not care if teachers saw him. He was angry with this particular cat...  
  
He chased her down a few floors. Luckily no one saw them, and the chase halted for a moment as Mrs. Norris jumped onto a statue and hissed at him.  
  
He snarled and placed his front paws on the statue. The lamplike eyes of the cat widened, and it swatted at his nose slightly. Harry snapped at her paw, slamming is jaws together with a great SNAP! She recoiled and Harry, and with all the strength he could muster, jumped onto the statue and right above her, practically landing on top of her.  
  
She gave a very high pitched meow, and jumped as far as she could off the statue. Harry shook his thick black fur, and held his tail in the air as he jumped from the statue and began to chase her once again. His eyes were focused on its target, his long legs moving quickly and his tail still held high. He was gaining on her, and she tried to speed up when suddenly she stopped and turned left into a room.  
  
It was the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Professor Lupin looked up from his desk to see a very distressed cat being chased by a very large black wolf. He merely gaped for a moment. Mrs. Norris jumped on one of the desks and Harry followed, gracefully jumping from desk to desk in pursuit.   
  
Lupin stood as he realized the black wolf was Harry. As he did this, Mrs. Norris spotted him and leapt into his arms, meowling. Harry came to a halt and looked around, then began sniffing. He immediately turned his head to the right as his senses told him, and lowered his tail as his Professor stared at him.  
  
"Harry? What on earth are you doing?" he asked, looking down with slight disgust at the cat as it scratched him.  
  
Harry changed into his normal form and scratched his head. "Errr...I was..."  
  
Lupin raised an eyebrow. "You were what?"  
  
"Well, maybe I should start out at the beginning..." said Harry, sighing. He proceeded to tell Lupin about the past few weeks with Mrs. Norris.  
  
When he had finished, Lupin nodded his head. "I think I see what the problem has been. You see, Harry, Filch has obviously sent his cat to follow you."  
  
"He did that on purpose?" asked Harry.  
  
"I believe so. The staff had told Filch to keep a good eye on you, but we didn't want him...or anything of his...following you. Don't worry, Harry, I'll solve the problem when I return Mrs. Norris." He smiled.  
  
"Thanks," said Harry, relieved.  
  
"You're very welcome. You are lucky you weren't caught by another teacher, or by Filch himself. Now, I suggest you should probably head up to the Common Room. I'll see you later," he said, as he reluctantly adjusted the cat in his arms and left the classroom.  
  
Harry watched him go and headed to the Common Room slowly.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Gryffindor played Ravenclaw the next day, and the game seemed to go on forever. Harry had spotted the Snitch several times, but found that he had trouble getting it this time, for the Ravenclaw seeker was good.   
  
Harry didn't know his name, but he was almost as good as Harry, but not good enough. Eventually, Harry caught the Snitch. The game was very close. They were tied before Harry caught the Snitch.  
  
The Common Room that afternoon was celebrating their win, but Harry found he didn't feel much like partying. He found himself melted in thoughts of Sirius. He left the Common Room unnoticed, and walked down to the Entrance Hall when Dumbledore came out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Congratulations on your win, Harry," he said kindly.  
  
"Thanks," said Harry, who tried to smile as much as possible.  
  
"I need to talk to you," said Dumbledore, now serious. "Can you please follow me?"  
  
Harry hesitated. "What...what about?"  
  
"Occlumency. Now, come..."  
  
Harry gulped and followed him to his office. Occlumency? Surely Dumbledore wouldn't make him take lessons with Snape again! He felt dread rise up into him. When they reached Dumbledore's office, they sat down as usual and for a moment, said nothing.  
  
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I have been thinking lately that maybe you should begin Occlumency again," he said quietly.  
  
"But...Professor...I don't..."   
  
There was something like a pleading look in Dumbledore's eyes.   
  
"I...errr..but you remember the last time I had Occlumency--!"  
  
"As well as if it were yesterday," said Dumbledore heavily. "Please, Harry. While you are still at Hogwarts you may be physically safe, but your mind is unsafe from Voldemort."  
  
"But the last time Snape taught me--well--you know what happened! And I thought you said that you'd made a mistake by letting Snape teach me?!"  
  
"Yes, and I don't intend on making another," he smiled gently. "I'm going to teach you, Harry."  
  
Harry abruptly shut his mouth. It was a moment or two before he opened it again.  
  
"You would teach me Occlumency? But you're busy--"  
  
Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.  
  
"Nothing is more important than you defending your mind from Voldemort. Absolutely nothing. I have no problem teaching you lessons in Occlumency. That is, if you are willing to learn?"   
  
Dumbledore waited for Harry's reply. Harry stared into the twinkling blue eyes and sighed.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Dumbledore smiled. "Excellent. Next Wednesday, meet me here and we will start your lessons."  
  
Harry nodded and exited the office, his mind racing with thoughts.  
  
(A/N: I admit that chapter was strange. I was a bit reluctant to post it-- but anyway, PLEASE REVIEW, and DON'T flame me. I PROMISE the next chapter will make a lot more sense. A LOT and it's quite interesting. I've got the whole story outlined on three sheets of paper, and I've got up to chapter 19 written and I'm working on chapter 20.) 


	18. Occlumency Again and Dark Things Happen

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
Okay, I'm updating a bit quicker this time....I've been out of school for two days, I had strep throat or whatever and my mom got in a car wreck scary...so I've had time to write a chapter or two...  
  
WOW! One hundred and one reviews! YAY! extremely happy I'd never think that someday I'd get so many. I was surprised about all the reviews I had for chapter 17. Thank you for not thinking it was a complete waste of internet space! Replies here:  
  
Ariana Dumbledore: Thanks a bunch! Here's 18..  
  
Katherine: Wow...thanks so much! I'm really glad you like it!!  
  
TOM: LOL It seems like yesterday when I posted the second chapter...amazing how time flies....thanks for reviewing and the comments!! I'm glad you found the story again...  
  
SofiaDragon: Thank you--!!!  
  
Jarvey: Here you go, here's chapter eighteen!  
  
potter-man1: I've got up 18, I hope it's good...!  
  
PhoenixPadfoot89: lol lol Thank you! You really liked it? Yay! In the HP books Mrs. Norris always annoyed me...so I felt like getting back at her...hahaha...Here's chapter eighteen, I really hope you like it!!   
  
Kevin-McKay: Thanks for the review!! Yeah, Harry does need the Occlumency...  
  
Siri Kat: LOL I wish I was normal, no fair! Just joking. Thank you very muchly for reviewing, and I've updated!  
  
¤ I think this chapter is sane, pleeeeeeease be sane, evil chapters! Err...sorry about that.  
  
Chapter 18- Occlumency Again and Dark Things Happen  
  
Next Wednesday came surprisingly quickly for Harry. He wasn't sure if he should look forward to Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore, or dread them. He was one hundred percent sure that they'd be easier than lessons with Snape, however.   
  
Speaking of Snape, he began treating Harry as normally as possible, but gave him occasional looks that plainly said "I hate you" and Harry always ignored them.   
  
Dumbledore didn't give Harry a specific time to come to his office, so Harry took a guess and came about 6:30 after classes. As he reached the gargoyles, however, Dumbledore came out and smiled.  
  
"There you are, Harry," he said, smiling. "I was hoping you hadn't forgot. Come on in."  
  
Harry followed him up to his office, where they sat down first.  
  
"I'm sure you are a bit nervous about this, but I need to discuss a few things with you," said Dumbledore, sighing.  
  
"Is this....err...bad or good?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Are you going to tell me something bad, or something good, or..."  
  
"Some parts are good, but the other is just made up of guesses."  
  
That only half-answered Harry's question, but he listened anyway.  
  
"Now, Harry, I know you did not enjoy Occlumency lessons when Professor Snape taught them to you. They were probably a bit difficult for you, but that is understandable. But since you are older, I believe that Occlumency may be a bit easier for you. You are a fully qualified wizard now, and are reaching the peak of your powers. Like I said before, you may become even more powerful over the years. Remember that you are as powerful as I am."  
  
"So, you think that Occlumency may be easier for me now that I'm seventeen?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Professor Dumbledore?"   
  
"Yes, Harry?"  
  
"Do you think that--that--Voldemort will possess me again?"  
  
Dumbledore pondered this question for a moment.   
  
"I doubt it, Harry, but there is always a chance. You remember as well as I what happened last time he attempted to possess you. He didn't last long."  
  
"So that's another reason you want me to try to attempt Occlumency again?"  
  
"Exactly right."  
  
"Okay. Are we going to start tonight?"  
  
"Yes, then every Wednesday after that, you will come back. Now, I want to make this as less-painful as possible for you, so remember that you have to empty yourself of all emotion. Take out your wand and face me please."  
  
Harry obliged and stood, facing Dumbledore several feet away. He was suddenly reminded of his lessons with Snape. He took a deep breath.  
  
"All right, remember that you can defend yourself with your wand. Ready?"  
  
Harry nodded and closed his eyes, holding out his wand and trying not to think as he took steadying breaths.  
  
"Legilimens!" said Dumbledore, as he pointed his wand at Harry.  
  
And immediately Harry felt Dumbledore in his mind, and suddenly visions came, horrible ones that Harry was hoping he'd forget someday.  
  
He was in the Prison Chamber, speaking to the wall in Parseltongue....Sirius falling through the veil....Harry was shouting his name......The chilled feeling of dementors surrounding him.....Cedric falling to the ground, his eyes blank.......  
  
Harry's mind was suddenly being filled with these horrible memories, and he opened his mouth to defend himself but no spell came out. His wand fell to the ground along with himself, shaking on the floor.  
  
The spell was lifted from him and Dumbledore walked over to Harry, who quickly stood up, shaking from head to toe.  
  
"Sorry, Professor," he whispered, "I just forgot about the memories that come..."  
  
Dumbledore patted Harry on the back and stared at him. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine...just wasn't as ready as I thought. We can try again, Professor..."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah...I'm just..."  
  
Dumbledore nodded his understanding and picked up Harry's wand from the floor, feeling its tingle.   
  
"Here," he said, holding the wand out to Harry.  
  
Harry, who was still shaking slightly, took it with a small, "Thanks."  
  
So, they faced each other again. This time, Harry wanted to do good....to not look like a fool in front of Dumbledore, who was supposedly his equal in power. It seemed that Harry was having trouble bringing out the power in himself, and be able to use it like Dumbledore.  
  
"Ready now, Harry?"  
  
"Yes, Professor, I think so."  
  
And he meant it. He tried to force down the grief that came with the horrific images in his head and waited, with his wand out.  
  
"Legilimens!"  
  
Harry tried to block Dumbledore from his head, screwing up his eyes in concentration. He raised his wand and pointed it at Dumbledore, "Expelliarmus!"  
  
The charm stopped the invasion on Harry's mind and Dumbledore's wand soared toward him, falling neatly in his hand. Harry opened his eyes. He felt quite drained, but not as drained as he had felt before with Snape as his teacher.  
  
"Excellent, Harry!" praised Dumbledore, smiling. "See, you did better than you thought you would, didn't you?"  
  
Harry tried to smile as he nodded, and he held out Dumbledore's wand to him.  
  
Dumbledore took it and tucked it into his robes.  
  
"You're not feeling well," said Dumbledore softly, "so you may go up to your dormitory. Good night, and I'll see you next week."  
  
Harry nodded. "Good night, Professor."  
  
He left, rubbing his head as he returned to his dormitory slowly.  
  
The next day, Harry sat at breakfast, feeling better. He didn't have any nightmares last night, gladly. As he sat, he talked to Neville, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean.  
  
"I think I lost Trevor for good," muttered Neville to all of them. "I haven't seen him for a week."  
  
"He'll probably turn up, Neville," said Seamus, "doesn't he always?"  
  
"Yeah, but, not really for weeks before."  
  
"You could always get an owl, Neville," said Ginny.  
  
"I wish, but I don't think Gran will let me have one."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Dunno, she's strange sometimes."  
  
They all laughed as the post owls soared in, delivering letters.  
  
Throughout the day, classes passed somewhat quickly and at lunch Harry saw someone he hadn't seen all year--Luna Lovegood.  
  
"Hello," she said dreamily, drifting over to the Gryffindor table.   
  
"Hi," said Harry, "I haven't seen you all year, Luna."  
  
"Yes...I've been mostly quiet and to myself. I'm excited about the end of the school year. How about you?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "I'm not really sure whether I'm ready to leave or not."  
  
They didn't pursue the subject.   
  
"Well, I have to go. Glad to have you back, Harry," she said and she drifted away again.  
  
"Still as Loony as ever," said Ron, sighing and earning a slightly irritated look from Hermione, who had become nicer to Luna over the year.  
  
Malfoy also looked at Harry and scowled. Harry hadn't seen Malfoy in a while either- ever since their little duel. Harry only scowled back, and turned back to his friends.  
  
Occlumency lessons were doing better than expected for Harry. He found that doing Occlumency was indeed easier, as Dumbledore said it was. All was doing well in the world for a while until the Daily Prophet arrived on Saturday.  
  
"An attack on Hogsmeade?!?" gasped Hermione, as she looked up and down the page. "What's this rubbish about dementors?"  
  
Harry dropped his utensils and took the paper from Hermione. Another attack?!  
  
ATTACKS ON HOGSMEADE- IS HOGWARTS IN DANGER?  
  
Harry scanned the front page.  
  
'....Friday night's attacks on Hogsmeade has left the Ministry wondering about the safety of Hogwarts and wizarding children......Security has been tightened around the area.....Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has sent dementors to Hogsmeade, but not to Hogwarts as Albus Dumbledore will not allow it....'  
  
"That bumbling idiot!" exclaimed Harry, and for a moment several people stared at him. "How thick can Fudge get?! Sending dementors to Hogsmeade? Dementors are outside Ministry control!" he said, lowering his voice.  
  
"Isn't it obvious that these dementors are pretending to be on Fudge's side, on Voldemort's orders? I mean, he admitted once that they weren't in his control, now he's believing they are again? How serious were these attacks, anyway? And how come we didn't hear them from inside the castle?" he scanned the page again.  
  
"It only says that they were pretty serious attacks," muttered Ron, looking over Harry's shoulder. "Look at that!" He pointed to the bottom of the page:  
  
'Willy Widdershins claims to have seen Pettigrew...page 9.'  
  
Harry's eyes widened and he fumbled over to page nine.  
  
'....Willy Widdershins, bartender at the Hog's Head Inn of Hogsmeade, swears to have seen Peter Pettigrew on the night of the attacks. He claims that Pettigrew had a silver hand and was wearing black robes......Cornelius Fudge is questioning the bartender's sanity and disbelieves Widdershins...Pettigrew was killed by Sirius Black in 1981 according to the Minister and it's impossible for him to have returned....the Minister claims to have heard similar lies before about Pettigrew...'  
  
Harry was quivering with anger. Wormtail had gotten away again! "He's talking about me there, I bet," said Harry, indicating the last sentence he had looked at. "How can someone be so stupid! He's making lots of mistakes here! Dumbledore was right. He's blind."  
  
The articles of the Daily Prophet were quoted everywhere around the school, and became the talk of the teachers as well. The students often saw them gathered in groups in the hallway, talking about the articles. Hogsmeade weekends were obviously cancelled, and the students that went outside were almost always watched by one of the teachers.  
  
And as February drew nearer to a close, Harry noticed upon looking out of the window, that Hagrid still hadn't returned from his Order of the Phoenix mission. After thinking for a while, he decided he'd go talk to Lupin and see what he thought about Pettigrew and the attacks on Hogsmeade.  
  
(A/N: I finished this chapter in one day, so maybe I'll be able to write a few more! I hope this chapter was more sane than the last one- it did have a lot of info! Review Review! And remember, NO FLAMES!!!!) 


	19. Just the Normal Worries for Harry

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
Fanfiction.net was being retarted, and won't let you put asterisks or any of those little curly lines (dunno what they're called)...so if things read strangely in any of the chapters, its because those asterisks were taken out.   
  
Thank you very muchly for the reviews. I love you guys!  
  
¤¤ PhoenixPadfoot89: LOL! Someone's gonna die in this story, but (unfortunately) it won't be Wormtail. Good question! Sadly, I don't know the answer either. hehehe...I dunno why I made it where they didn't hear them...Thanks for reviewing! Let's see...Happy Memorial Day!  
  
¤¤ Kevin McKay: Thank you!! Nope, Fudge's not a Death Eater, but he's extremely stupid like one!!. Hehehe...  
  
¤¤ Siri Kat: Aah! Sorry! I hope this one is more actionful. (Is that a word?)  
  
Enjoy it...!! My favorite part is the dream...read and you'll see what it's about!  
  
Chapter 19- Just the Normal Worries for Harry  
  
Soon it was Wednesday and time for another Occlumency lesson in Dumbledore's office. Harry was glad it was easier for him now, and found that Dumbledore was a bit easier on him than Snape was.  
  
Harry was heading up to Dumbledore's office quietly and when he got there, he heard voices from inside the office. It was Dumbledore's, and Cornelius Fudge's.  
  
Harry knocked politely on the door and he heard Dumbledore's voice. "Come in, Harry."  
  
So, he walked in and shut the door behind him. Fudge was standing and looking irritable, and Dumbledore was as calm as ever, sitting in his chair.   
  
"Well, well..." said Fudge, smirking. "Look who it is. Harry Potter. Haven't seen you in years..."  
  
Harry looked at him only for a moment before sitting down and staying silent. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he'd scream at the Minister.  
  
"Dolores told me you came back. A year in Voldemort's capture....tsk tsk..."  
  
Harry closed his eyes, his teeth clenched together. As he opened his eyes slowly again, Dumbledore was looking at Fudge with slightly blazing eyes.  
  
"Harry was captured, Cornelius. I've told you this story before."  
  
"Yes..yes...I'll owl you later, Dumbledore. I must be going."  
  
And he left without another word. Harry was glaring at him as he left.  
  
"Well, Harry, are you ready for today's lessons?"  
  
Harry hesitated, then nodded.  
  
--------------------  
  
March came and rain poured down at the castle. Many things were on Harry's mind as he sat quietly in the Common Room with Ron and Hermione. Things like why Voldemort is quiet, and Quidditch practice tomorrow afternoon. Ron, as he had thought before, doesn't hold many Quidditch practice sessions. Perhaps it's because there haven't been many games this year, either. Why? Harry didn't know; it was another one of those things that was on his mind.  
  
Another thing on Harry's mind would occur three months later. It was graduation, and it seemed to creep into his mind a lot lately. For the first time, really, he was worried about what could happen after graduation.  
  
Would he find a job? Become an Auror, like he still wants to do? Where would he live? How would it feel for him if he lived by himself? He decided it was too risky to live with someone else. Anywhere Harry went, trouble always followed. Would Voldemort continue pursuing him? Probably.  
  
Harry knew that Ron and Hermione had it easy. They had families at home that would gladly let them live there until they found lives by themselves. But Harry was a different case. As soon as Harry was done with school, he knew the Dursleys' would not let him live with them. He'd be chucked out faster than he could say "Homeless."  
  
Maybe Dumbledore would let him stay at Hogwarts. Temporarily, at least. Harry could live in the room that he stayed in last summer....  
  
There was way too many questions. He decided to postpone his worrying and get on with life.  
  
--------------------  
  
Lately, the teachers had been giving the seventh years lots of homework. They would often mention careers to the students and give them advice and all kinds of stuff.  
  
Nothing special really happened during the weeks, until Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Grubbly-Plank decided to take the students to the edge of the Dark Forest to study different trees and tree-dwelling creatures.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, of course, had no problem going in there, for they had done it many times. The other students seemed a bit reluctant at first, but followed suit.  
  
Grubbly-Plank was explaining something about the tree right in front of them, when something moved from behind her.   
  
She turned around sharply, and upon seeing nothing, turned back around to the students.  
  
Another rustle. This time two.  
  
She turned around again and stared. She pulled out her wand and went back to explaining.  
  
More rustles, a swaying small tree, and a couple of snapping twigs stopped her from speaking for the third time, and she cleared her throat. "All right, students, how about we just head back up toward the castle?" she asked nervously.  
  
She herded them all out quickly and told them that that was the last time they were going into the Forbidden Forest.  
  
"After all, there's a reason it's called 'Forbidden'," said Parvati Patil as the bell rang. Lavender Brown giggled.  
  
Later that afternoon, the trio sat in the Common Room again, dozing.  
  
"Mum wrote me a letter yesterday. She said Percy came by the Burrow," said Ron sleepily.  
  
Harry opened his eyes and sat up. "What? Why?"  
  
"Says he apologized for being such a stupid git," shrugged Ron.  
  
"You're kidding. I thought he'd never apologize."  
  
Ron shrugged again. "Well, mum's forgiven him, of course. You know her. Dad's warmed up to him a little, but all the rest of us aren't so willing to forgive."  
  
"Well, I don't blame you," said Harry.  
  
"But you shouldn't really be too hard on him," said Hermione, "I mean, it was a horrible thing to do by following Fudge, but he was doing it a bit blindingly. I don't think he had a clue what he was getting in to by joining the Ministry."  
  
"Yeah, but like I said before, Fudge is blind too. He couldn't recognize a Death Eater if it poked him in the--"  
  
"Anyway," interrupted Hermione, stopping Harry's sentence.  
  
Ron snorted. "I agree, Harry, no matter how many times Hermione stops you from cursing."  
  
Harry grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
--------------------  
  
Harry fell asleep quite quick that night.   
  
It didn't take long for the dreams to start.....  
  
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Bella," snarled Voldemort. "I don't have time for your snivelling."  
  
"Yes, Mast--"  
  
"Quiet!"  
  
The hall fell completely silent. It was the hall in which Harry had been taken into to see Voldemort in his "royal chair".  
  
"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted," Voldemort shot an angry look at Bellatrix Lestrange, "the plans should work out well. I will make a disturbance--"  
  
"Am I coming along?" asked Bellatrix stupidly.  
  
Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Crucio!"  
  
Bellatrix screamed, writhering on the ground before Voldemort lifted the curse.  
  
"Bella, I thought I told you to be quiet. I don't know if you've realized, but you've been acting strange ever since Potter beat the ruddy hell out of you. Get off the floor," he barked.  
  
She scrambled from the floor, brushing off her robes.  
  
"What are your plans, Master?" she asked quietly, shaking.  
  
Voldemort walked over to Bella, took his long, sickly white fingers, and gripped the back of her robes.  
  
"Since you cannot stay quiet during my meetings, Bella, and I don't know how to get it through your thick skull that you should remain silent, you are excluded from this hall."  
  
Voldemort dragged her across the floor like a person would drag a stubborn dog, and literally threw her out of the hall's doors and slammed them.   
  
Snarling, he turned and came back to the other Death Eaters, who were standing still. As he halted before them, he lifted his eyes and looked straight into Harry's eyes.....  
  
"Having fun?"  
  
Harry inhaled sharply and shot his eyes open, finding the covers twisted around him and his forehead drenched with sweat. He looked around nervously as he sat up, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. What was that all about anyway?  
  
He looked around himself again as he put on his glasses. Hogwarts...this is Hogwarts. He was not back at the Fortress of Shadows. But the vision was so real...he almost could feel Voldemort actually looking at him. Why was he having these dreams anyway? Wasn't he studying Occlumency?  
  
Confused and a bit unnerved, he got up from his bed and got a shaking glass of water, downing it with one gulp. He slid down the wall onto the floor, thinking about what he just saw. What was wrong with Bellatrix Lestrange? Did Harry actually do lasting damage to her back in the Prison Chamber?  
  
He dropped his empty glass and fell back asleep against the wall before he could think about it any more.   
  
--------------------  
  
"You think he got drunk off water? And fell asleep?" laughed a joking Ron as he and Seamus stared at the sleeping Harry against the wall.  
  
Harry heard him and opened a tired eye.  
  
"Hey mate, what are you doing on the floor?" asked Ron.  
  
Harry didn't answer. He wasn't so sure himself. As he lifted head from the wall and realized his neck was sore, it suddenly came back to him.  
  
Voldemort....the meeting...Lestrange.  
  
"Nothing," said Harry, picking up his empty glass and standing sorely.  
  
"Did you sleepwalk or something?"  
  
"No, I just got up to get a glass of water, and I guess I was so tired I fell asleep before even getting back to bed."  
  
Ron seemed satisfied with that. "Well, come on, get dressed. Let's go eat some breakfast. You must be wicked sore."  
  
"Yeah, I am. I'll be down in a minute."  
  
As Harry got dressed, he couldn't help but think about the dream--or vision, rather--that he had had.   
  
(A/N: I hate writing "had had." Anyway, I really had problems writing this chapter, maybe that's why it's so short!!. Jeez...it was annoying. It took me about two weeks to write because I had no idea how to make the chapter longer. Stupid? Yeah...I guess so. Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE! And remember, NO flames allowed!!!!) 


	20. The Dark Side is Quiet

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
Hey, look how fast I updated! Only...like...two weeks! hehehe...Okay, in this chapter Dumbledore explains one of the visions Harry had....so read it and find out, then review it!! Thanks for last chapters reviews:  
  
¤¤ aalikane: Thanks for the three reviews! I've got around to updating quicker than usual....  
  
¤¤ Kevin-McKay: Thank you! Yeah, I feel the same way about Bella too...  
  
¤¤Kjkit: Sorry 'bout the shortness last chapter! Thanks for reviewing though.  
  
¤¤SpongeMonkey: Thank you! I like your name, it's awesome!!  
  
¤¤ PhoenixPadfoot89: lol....clever idea...never thought about tricking reviewers like that!! Hmm...nope, not Dumbledore! But I'll just let you know he gets in a little...err...bad situation? Kinda? You'll see who dies in chapter twenty-four...but you'll be happy...I'll tell you no more! :-) Let's see.....hmm....Happy Independence Day? Close enough, eh? July 4th? Only 20 days away..hehe interesting holiday you have there!!!  
  
Okay...okay....I know. On with the story, enjoy!  
  
Chapter 20- The Dark Side is Quiet  
  
Over the next few weeks, there had been no sign of Voldemort. No attacks, no sightings, no deaths, nothing since the attack on Hogsmeade. To the whole castle, this was disturbing.  
  
Harry viewed it as a cycle. Voldemort attacks, he goes quiet and plans more things, then he attacks again. Harry was somewhat poised for another attack, and he expected something to happen every day. There wasn't a morning he didn't wake up, wondering if something was going to happen to Hogwarts or his friends...  
  
The rest of the castle had gone quiet as well. No one was hardly seen out in the halls, and when you saw someone, they were rushing toward their Common Room or to their next class, as if any place but the corridors were safe havens. Harry could almost sense all of the nervousness and the tension inside the school.   
  
Obviously, Hogsmeade weekends were cancelled for the rest of the year. The Daily Prophet had reported lots of galleons' worth damage, and that the repairs would take quite a while, even with magic. So Harry had nothing to look forward to much.  
  
One thing that was still normal were Harry's Occlumency lessons. It was already Wednesday again and Harry (almost automatically) traced his footsteps back to the Headmaster's office.   
  
"Powdered Pixies," he whispered to the gargoyle, who jumped aside to allow him in.  
  
Powdered Pixies were another one of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products. They are cream-filled, Pixie shape candies that are covered in powdered sugar. When you ate one, your voice turned extremely high-pitch and you grew small wings on your back that flapped continuously. They wore off after thirty minutes.  
  
Fred and George's joke shop was doing excellent. They had wrote Harry a letter, saying hello to him and that they were extremely glad he was back. They listed all of their new products (Powdered Pixies being one of them) and told him how business was booming at their shop in Diagon Alley.  
  
Harry headed up to Dumbledore's office, and raised his fist to knock.  
  
"Come on in, Harry," said Dumbledore pleasantly, and Harry couldn't help but grin.   
  
"Good evening," he greeted Harry. "Are you ready for this week's lesson?"  
  
"Yes, but...errr...Professor? Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Why is Voldemort so suddenly quiet?"  
  
Dumbledore sighed and stood from his desk. Harry began to wonder whether he should have asked that question or not, before the Headmaster finally spoke.  
  
"I'm not quite sure, Harry," he said, looking thoughtful. "But I don't believe he is done with whatever he is planning to do. I have reason to believe he is planning something now. What he is planning, I do not know."  
  
He crossed the room to face Harry.   
  
"Something happened in the Ministry of Magic, back in February. Apparently, someone broke into the place where the Ministry stores records on witches and wizards, and was searching for something about you. We, as in the Order, believe that it was one of Voldemort's followers attempting to find information about the prophecy. We are not sure about who it was...however. The story wasn't published in the Daily Prophet. Cornelius Fudge wanted to keep it quiet that someone broke into the Ministry. The person was almost spotted by a witch who worked in the Ministry."  
  
(A/N: Does anyone remember a certain vision of Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort?? )  
  
Harry felt a horrible sinking sensation in his stomach. "Did they...find it out?"  
  
"No. The prophecy was not recorded on paper. The only place it was ever stored was inside the small sphere that broke back in your fifth year."  
  
Harry felt better. "Good. Right, that's all I wanted to ask, I'm ready now."  
  
The lesson started off fairly well. Harry was getting better and better at mastering Occlumency, and he didn't have a flaw in this lesson except for one. After Dumbledore had cast the spell on him, Harry had not been expecting it as much and he fell backward and hit his head on one of the bookshelves. Otherwise, things went great.  
  
--------------------  
  
The month of March was moving on quickly. Harry knew it seemed to be going much faster for him, now that he was nervous about the end of the school year. He found himself actually visualizing what he'd be like a year from now....where he would live.....  
  
He scolded himself mentally whenever he thought about it. He didn't want to think about it now. After all, graduation isn't until months. He kept telling himself this, fully aware that in three months time, the thoughts would come back and haunt him again, and he'd be angry with himself that he hadn't thought of things before.  
  
--------------------  
  
It was a quiet night in the Common Room. Most people had gone to bed, or to their dormitories to study and finish last-minute homework. This left Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny sitting beside the fireplace.  
  
"I can't stop thinking about You-Know-Who," said Neville nervously. "He's just so....unpredictable."  
  
"That's what You-Know-Who's best at, Neville," sighed Ginny.  
  
Harry, annoyed by their conversation for some reason, interrupted them.  
  
"Why don't you use his name?" he asked, directing his question at Neville and the two Weasleys.  
  
They were quiet for a whole minute. "It's just....not...right to say," whispered Ron.  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"  
  
"Well, I dunno," said Ron, a small bite of impatience in his voice.  
  
"Say it."  
  
"I'm not--"  
  
"I want all three of you to say it. Hermione says it, and I say it."  
  
"We can't, though--"  
  
Harry snorted. "Well, why not? Honestly, what's he gonna do if you say it? Come down from the ceiling and smack you?"  
  
Neville, Ron, and Ginny looked up at the ceiling as if they took it literally.   
  
Then they looked back down, laughing nervously.  
  
"There's always a chance," said Ron, just to have something to defend himself with. "Neville just got through saying that--he--was so unpredictable."  
  
"Voldemort."  
  
"Err...yes."  
  
"Who's unpredictable again?"   
  
Ron realized Harry was going to try and _make_ him say it. He didn't want to play that game.  
  
"You-Know-Who."  
  
"You-Know-Who?" asked Harry, playing dumb.  
  
"Damn it, you know who I'm talking about!"  
  
Ginny let out a frustrated noise and stood abruptly. "Ron, you little prat, why don't you just say it so he'll shut up?"  
  
"Well," snapped Ron, "you say it if you're so brave!"  
  
She closed her mouth, mouthed silently for a moment, then opened it again. "Fine."  
  
Gulping, she looked at Harry, who couldn't understand why they were making such a big deal out of this.  
  
"V-V-ol--" she stammered, wringing her hands. "Vold--Vold--"  
  
"--emort," finished Harry. "Get it all out."  
  
"Voldem--"  
  
"--ort."  
  
"Voldem--Voldem--Voldemor--t."  
  
Harry grinned. "Good! Now make it all into one word."  
  
Ginny chewed on her fingernails for a second. "V-Voldemort. Voldemort."  
  
"That makes three of us who can say it. See, no one has been slapped, cursed, hexed, anything. It's just a stupid name. Now, Ron, look at you. Your little sister has beat you. She has just--"  
  
"All right, Harry, I get it. You don't have to rub it in my face," snapped Ron again.  
  
Harry only looked at Neville, who was looking at his shoelaces as if fascinated with them.  
  
"Neville?"  
  
"I'm...err..."  
  
"Say 'Voldemort', Neville."  
  
Neville looked up, and swallowed. "Why?"  
  
"Because, if you fear his name, you fear him. That's pretty much what Dumbledore told me, and I believe it. I know that you, Neville, don't want to fear Voldemort."  
  
"No, I don't.."  
  
"Then let us know. Say it."  
  
There was silence, where Ron was furiously staring at Ginny (who was staring just as furiously back), Hermione was beaming, and Harry was staring at Neville.  
  
"I'll do it."  
  
Harry smiled and waited.  
  
"V-Voldemort."  
  
Harry was mildly surprised on how quick Neville had already said it. "Well, that's good! Now we just have to wait on Ron. And you're not going anywhere," he added, as Ron stood.  
  
Hermione and the others pushed him down.  
  
"I'll say it eventually, okay? But not right now, I don't--"  
  
"You'll say it now, Ron," said Hermione, fixing him with a hard stare.  
  
He held up his hands. "Fine! Just give me a second.."  
  
But it was a few minutes later before Ron had said, "Vol."  
  
"Well," sighed Harry, "That's a start. Now, say 'de' and you'll have about three quarters of the name done."  
  
"De."  
  
"No, put 'Vol' and 'de' together."  
  
"Vol--de."  
  
"Say it again."  
  
"This is ridiculous," he said, but not with much anger, "Volde."  
  
"Now add 'mort'."  
  
"Mort."  
  
Harry almost wanted to yell at him. "Put it together, Ron. Volde. Mort."  
  
"Volde. Err..mort."  
  
"It's not 'Voldeerrmort', Ron," said Harry. "Voldemort. Don't shiver, maybe that will get you somewhere. Voldemort. Voldemort. Voldemort."  
  
"Stop!" he hissed. "Voldem..."  
  
"Ort."  
  
"Voldem--"  
  
"Voldem _ort_."  
  
"Voldemor--"  
  
He paused.  
  
"Put on the last letter, Ron!"  
  
"T."  
  
"Now say all of it. All together, as one word."  
  
"Voldemort." He gasped slightly and put a hand over his mouth.  
  
"It's about time. Not that hard, is it? Now we can all say it. Ron, you can still say it, can't you?"  
  
"Err...Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes. That's his name. I'm going to bed. Good night."  
  
"G'night."  
  
And that night was quite a happy one for Harry as he climbed into bed.  
  
--------------------  
  
March 30, 1997 was Easter Sunday.  
  
Dumbledore had announced that a special dinner would be held tonight to celebrate the holiday. Many people were still timid about going places in the castle, but everyone was going to the feast.  
  
That night, Harry went down to the full Great Hall and took his seat beside Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Hey mate," said Ron. "Thought you weren't going to make it for a minute."  
  
"I truthfully almost forgot," said Harry, "but no matter. I made it."  
  
Hermione was yawning tiredly. She had apparently spent a whole night in the library.   
  
For a while they chatted, and soon food appeared on the table, with Easter decorations. They all helped themselves to seconds and the food finally disappeared.  
  
Dumbledore stood and the room went quiet to listen to him. "I hope you all enjoyed this particularly fine feast. I am sure some of you are familiar with the muggle Easter Bunny, an imaginary rabbit that goes around and gives the children gifts. To lighten the tense mood of the castle," he paused to look around, "I have decided that I will give you something that the Easter Bunny possesses," he paused again and smiled, his eyes twinkling, "ears."  
  
As he said it, everyone felt a strange sensation on the top of their heads, as if they had been thumped. The feeling then stopped, and everyone looked at each other.  
  
Laughs, screams, and gasps all erupted. The whole castle's inhabitants had all sprouted a pair of identical white rabbit ears, even the teachers and Professor Dumbledore himself. Harry looked up to see Snape with rabbit ears, and he almost died laughing.  
  
When he recovered, he felt the top of his head, and his extra ears. They were fluffy and realistic, and he realized he could move them. He could make them go forward, lay flat backward on his head, and swivel them to the side. A few of the girls were still shrieking and stood to run from the hall, perhaps to their dormitory or the bathroom.   
  
Harry pinched his ears, and found that it actually hurt. So he could do everything with them except hear things with them. He shrugged and looked at Ron, who was gaping around, and Hermione, who looked amused.  
  
Dumbledore had apparently dismissed everyone, because benches were being pushed back and people were leaving. Harry stood to go with them.   
  
"This is actually kind of funny. I really don't feel embarrased," said Harry as the trio headed back to the Common Room.   
  
"I agree," Hermione said, "I think the mood will lighten a bit with these rabbit ears."  
  
Ron said nothing. He merely grumbled.  
  
As Harry prepared for bed that night, he looked in the mirror at himself. How did Dumbledore come up with something like this? Harry may be as powerful as him, but he knew he would never be as clever. Amused, Harry climbed into bed, swiveling his ears.  
  
(A/N: They will have bunny ears for a few weeks then they'll disappear. Four more chapters to tweak, and the whole story will be done! Next chapter, they have their ears for a little while, Harry tells Neville the prophecy, and more Occlumency. Please review!!!!!! Pwease?? No flaming allowed!!!!) 


	21. Easter Ears and April Showers

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
¤¤ aalikane: Thanks, I try to go as fast as possible though! lol...  
  
¤¤ Yugioh/Potter/Pokemon fan: Hi! Thanks a whole bunch!! I like Animagus stories as well- I think that's the reason why I made Harry be one in this story. Yeah, I feel the same way- it reminds me a whole lot of Sirius, being black and a dog-like animal. I didn't mean to do that- I actually wrote some of this story before OOTP came out! lol...I had to go back and redo half of it. I should have given him more powers...I'm mad at myself...but in the last chapter he uses his Animagus form again and does something he's never done before...thanks so much for reviewing (and putting me on your favorites list)!!!  
  
¤¤ Lord of Chaos: Thanks for reviewing! Well, I didn't really intend to make Harry get together with anyone in this story. I'm horrible at writing romance-kind of things (lol)...You can see why Ginny wouldn't want to go out with Harry in this chapter....I suppose it's a lame excuse...sorry 'bout that.  
  
¤¤ volleypickle16: Thank you! Ah! I dunno...I haven't really thought about a sequel...okay, wait, yes I have. But I dunno if I could make it work out...I'm glad you like the story... :-)  
  
¤¤ PhoenixPadfoot89: Wow- thanks! You're gonna recommend me? Awesome!!! Hey! I forgot all about Father's Day! Yes, you'll have to be patient...I know, I know. But at least you'll be happy! What almost happens to Dumbledore is in chapter 24 too (see, I'm updating much faster now, so you'll get to find out quicker than usual lol)..Yeah, I'm from the U.S.--I really wanna go to the UK though, I'd give anything to go! Well, since you've said Father's Day, and I've said Independence Day, then how about Happy Crimsonphoenix1's Birthday Day!!! yay! It's the 5th of July, it's really fun celebrating two days in a row....  
  
Anyway, am I rambling again?   
  
Sorry, here's twenty-one (only three more chapters to post) Enjoy it!  
  
Chapter 21- Easter Ears and April Showers  
  
It was April, and the weather was getting much warmer. It had begun to rain often, making Quidditch practice a messy affair. For some reason, Harry sometimes liked it when he was practicing in the rain. It just felt good to him and his ears, which he often lowered to his head during Quidditch practice to avoid stray Bludgers.  
  
Wednesday, the 2nd of April, rolled around surprisingly fast for Harry, and he once again found himself tracing his footsteps back to the Headmaster's office for his Occlumency lesson.  
  
He didn't even bother waiting after he knocked on the door- he just politely stepped in.  
  
"Professor?"  
  
He looked around the empty office, listening to the rain lash at the windows.   
  
"Professor Dumbledore?" he tried again.  
  
The wizard appeared from the top of the staircase, his rabbit ears facing forward.  
  
"I apologize, Harry," he said, walking downstairs. "I was so engrossed in reading that I didn't hear you knock."  
  
Dumbledore walked over to face Harry. "Are you ready?"  
  
Harry pulled out his wand and nodded. "Yes."  
  
He backed up a few steps and flattened his ears back against his head, holding his wand steady. Dumbledore pulled out his own wand.  
  
"1...2....3..." he began, "Legilimens!"  
  
It was then that Harry felt Dumbledore in his mind. He relaxed, feeling no emotion as he pushed out Dumbledore, opening his eyes before any memories could be relived.  
  
"Very good, Harry, excellent!" said Dumbledore, smiling. "That was quite fast!"  
  
Harry smiled back and got ready again.  
  
"Ready again?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"1...2...3...Legilimens!"  
  
For the second time, Dumbledore searched into his mind, to be pushed out quickly by Harry.  
  
"You know, Harry," said Dumbledore thoughtfully after the spell was released, "you are doing so well that I don't think I am going to continue your training. Consider yourself graduated from Occlumency training."  
  
Harry was shocked for a moment but quickly recovered. "Really?"  
  
"Certainly. It seems that you have no problem resisting attacks on your mind. It will be much more difficult for Voldemort to do so now..."  
  
"Well," said Harry, still surprised. "I never thought I'd be good at Occlumency."  
  
Dumbledore smiled again. "You're quite skilled at it now, and I think anyone attacking your mind will have trouble doing it. Now, you should run along, you have lots of homework to do..."  
  
"How did you know that?"  
  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Ahh..I also know that you haven't started on one bit of it."  
  
Harry sighed. That didn't answer his question, it only made him more curious.  
  
"Alright," he said. "I'll go do it. I know you'll know if I don't......Good night.."  
  
"Good night, Harry."  
  
Harry, still smiling slightly at his Headmaster's avoidance of his question, crossed the room and left.  
  
--------------------  
  
People were wandering the corridors more and more with each day. It seemed that Voldemort's attack on Hogsmeade had finally stopped bothering everyone as much, and their bunny ears had made everyone less tense, as Dumbledore knew it would have, and as Hermione had guessed.  
  
It was quite strange to go down the corridors during school days, seeing all of the black Hogwarts robes and the white ears perched on top of everyone's heads, and it gave everyone a hilarious look.   
  
The Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had been the talk of the whole school lately. People had actually stopped a bewildered Ron in the hallways and ask him about the products. Each time, Ron would just say he had "no idea what they were thinking up" and walk on.  
  
So, a week went on, and Voldemort was still quiet. Not a single report had been filed, no sightings, nothing. It only made everyone wonder what he was planning to do next.   
  
On Monday, the fourteenth, Harry woke and tried to swivel his ears, to find that they weren't there. A bit confused, he felt the top of his head and jumped out of bed, pulling back Ron's hangings to look at him. His ears were gone too.  
  
It seemed that whatever spell it was had worn off and everyone had returned back to normal. Harry actually felt like he was forgetting something whenever he had moved around the whole day, because he was so used to having the rabbit ears.  
  
There was a Quidditch game a few weeks later between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff had surprisingly scraped a win after the Ravenclaw Keeper was hit by a Bludger and one of the Hufflepuff Chasers hit one of the goal posts and fell to the ground.  
  
The game wasn't that bad, but it lasted a long time since both teams had lost a player. The next Quidditch game would be Hufflepuff and Slytherin, with the winner of that playing Gryffindor. It had been a long time since Ravenclaw was the lowest scoring of the teams.  
  
--------------------  
  
Another rainy day kept everyone inside on a few weekends later and towards the end of April. Harry, Ginny, and Neville sat in the Common Room. Most people had gone downstairs to eat dinner, but the three of them didn't feel much like eating.  
  
So, they sat in a gloomy silence, the weather reflecting their mood, until Ginny jumped up.  
  
"Oh!" she said, alarming the two boys, "I forgot, I have to meet Dean after dinner--"  
  
"You two are still going out?" asked Harry increduously.   
  
"Yeah," she said. "We get along really good. Why?"  
  
"Just wondering, I thought the two of you wouldn't have lasted long, the last time I saw you.."  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"Oh," she said. "No, we're still together...he told me he'd help me with some homework...I'll see you two later!"  
  
But before they could say anything else, she had left.  
  
"How long has she been going out with Dean?" asked Neville.  
  
"For a long time," answered Harry. "At the end of our fifth year, they were talking, and I guess they've been going out ever since."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Harry looked at Neville and suddenly remembered the prophecy. Neville could have been the one in Harry's place...he could have been the wizard responsible for killing Voldemort, and he didn't even know. He suddenly had the urge to tell him. After all, Neville knew that a prophecy existed, but had no idea that the prophecy had almost pertained to him...  
  
He opened his mouth. He was going to tell Neville about it...he felt he had the right to know...but he closed it abruptly.  
  
He would ask Dumbledore first, to make sure Dumbledore would know Harry was about to tell Neville about it. He didn't want to do the wrong thing....  
  
Harry stood up.  
  
"Neville," he said. "I'll be right back, alright? Wait here."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Just....it's kind of hard to explain, I'll tell you when I get back. Okay?"  
  
"Err...right.."  
  
Harry dashed out of the portrait hole and downstairs. He wanted to be quick before anyone got through with dinner, because he wanted to talk to Neville about this alone. He rushed downstairs and to the Entrance Hall. He was about to pull open the doors to the Great Hall when someone from the other side pushed them open...  
  
Luckily, it was Professor Dumbledore who came out.   
  
"Professor," said Harry, "can I talk to you?"  
  
He paused for a moment, looking at Harry, then nodded. "Up to my office, then?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
So, they walked all the way up to Dumbledore's office, and there Harry sat down and immediately blurted it out.  
  
"Professor, can I tell Neville about the prophecy?"  
  
Dumbledore sat down, but before he could reply, Harry went on.  
  
"I mean, he was almost the one who'd have to....do what I have to do," he explained. "And he knows about the prophecy, but doesn't know what it is. I think he has the right to know, since--"  
  
Dumbledore held up a hand.  
  
"Harry," he said. "I think that if you want to tell Neville, you can. I appreciate you asking me first, to let me know what you were going to do, but since this prophecy is about you, then I think that it is right for you to tell him. I agree with you."  
  
Harry nodded. "I just wanted to make sure...I didn't want to make any mistakes."  
  
"I understand..."  
  
"He's waiting on me, I better go ahead. Thanks, Professor."  
  
After a brief goodbye, he went back to the Gryffindor Common Room out of breath. Thankfully, it was empty, and Neville was still sitting there, looking quite bored.  
  
"Sorry," he apologized. "I had to ask Dumbledore before I told you. Neville--"  
  
He paused.   
  
"D'you--did you--ever think about what that prophecy said? Back in our fifth year?"  
  
Neville suddenly started paying more attention. "Yeah, I've always wondered what was in it..."  
  
"Well, okay...this is kind of hard to do, since this is normally not something I discuss with people, but I thought you should know it. You already know that the prophecy was about me, but it was almost about you instead."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was made to one of two wizards that were born at the end of July about seventeen years ago. One of them was me and the other was you."  
  
"You were born at the end of July too?"  
  
"Yeah. Anyway, maybe I should tell you the prophecy first. I don't know every single word by heart, but it basically says that the one with the power to kill the Dark Lord, which is obviously Voldemort, was born at the end of July about seventeen years ago."  
  
Harry paused again, swallowing hard. It wasn't an easy thing to talk about.   
  
"Err...and it said that this boy would either be murdered by Voldemort....or...or...have to kill Voldemort himself, because no one else can. Well, anyway, Voldemort found out from....someone....that there were two boys that this prophecy could be talking about, and it was either you or I."  
  
Neville was merely staring, but listening.  
  
"But Voldemort only heard the first part of the prophecy, that told that there would be a boy born that could kill him completely. He didn't hear the second part, which said that the boy would have power that the Dark Lord didn't have. So, he set out to kill one of us, and it happened to be me. Dumbledore said he identified most with me, because I was a half-blood and so was Voldemort, so he came after me to kill me, but the curse backfired. You know the rest after that."  
  
"Then....why isn't my name on that prophecy too?"  
  
"Because after Voldemort tried to kill me, the keepers of the Hall of Prophecy figured that I was the one the prophecy was talking about, so they put my name on the prophecy."  
  
"But...but..." Neville seemed to be a bit panicky, "what if it's me, and I'm the one who has to kill him--!?"  
  
"Relax, Neville, it's not you. It's...it's me."  
  
"But...how do you know if that's right?"  
  
"Because one part of the prophecy said that Voldemort would mark this baby as his equal..."   
  
Harry lifted his hair and pointed at his scar.  
  
"So...it is you?" asked Neville. "You're the one that has to kill him?"  
  
"Yes, I'm the only one who can. If I don't, then nobody can, and this whole world will have to put up with him...forever."  
  
"What power do you have?"  
  
Harry stared at him. "What?"  
  
"You said that the baby would have power that Voldemort didn't..."  
  
"Oh," sighed Harry. "That power is love. Something Voldemort doesn't have. Please don't tell anyone this, Neville. If Voldemort finds out, then....it won't be good. I trust that you won't tell anyone no matter what..."  
  
"I swear, I won't tell. I don't know what it's like to be you, but I understand why you wouldn't want anyone to find out about it."  
  
Harry just nodded and leaned back into his chair. He was so tired...it seemed like it had drained him just to tell Neville this information. Neville was staring out of the window, apparently trying to think of what to say.  
  
"Doesn't....doesn't it make you feel like....like everything depends on you?"  
  
"Yeah," said Harry. "It does. And in a way, everything does depend on me, because if I don't kill Voldemort, he'll never die."  
  
Neville nodded silently, and the portrait hole opened, exposing a whole rush of students, but Harry didn't hear them, he was staring at the floor, lost in thought.  
  
Ron and Hermione said something to him, but he wasn't paying attention. Neville had left to go up to their dormitory, and Harry felt like following him, but Ron and Hermione were looking at him worriedly.  
  
"What's wrong?" he finally heard them ask.  
  
He stared at them for a whole minute.   
  
"I...told Neville about the prophecy," he whispered. "I...was just...thinking about it..."  
  
They instinctively looked around to look at Neville, but upon not seeing him, they turned back to Harry.   
  
"You all right, mate?" asked Ron, looking at Harry directly in the eyes. "You look a bit sick."  
  
"No, I'm fine...just tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."  
  
He went up to his dormitory, not bothering to change into his pajamas, and threw himself on his bed, stared up at the ceiling.  
  
He could almost really feel the world sitting on his shoulders.  
  
(A/N: It took me forever to write this chapter! I wrote the title for it, and didn't get started on it until weeks later! But I got it finished in one day...I pushed myself to do it..! Please PLEASE review!!!! And NO flames! I will use them to cook all kinds of yummy foods and pass it all out to the nice reviewers...Oh yeah, you want to know what happens next chapter, right? Okay....Quidditch, Harry overhears Ron and Hermione talking about something unexpected, and exams. And a bunch more!) 


	22. Excitement, Stress, and Nervousness

--Harry Potter, and everybody you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
--Okay, before you ask, I know some of you will wonder about N.E.W.T.'s when you read this chapter. Don't worry, I didn't completely forget about them, I just didn't want to fool with writing them, because I wouldn't have been able to do it good, and I don't exactly know how those exams are taken. Sure, I could have made it up, but I wanted to focus more on them being nervous and worried than what they were taking tests on. I don't guess that's exactly the right thing to do, but oh well. Let's just say these are the N.E.W.T.'s and I just don't show them...(Don't get me wrong, N.E.W.T.'s are still important in this story, I just didn't want to write them doing it because I don't think I can. Do you get it? 'Cause if Harry and Ron are to be Aurors eventually, they'll have to have their N.E.W.T.'s.) Okay, review replies:  
  
¤¤ volleypickle16: Hi!! Thank you!!  
  
¤¤ Yugioh/Potter/Pokemon fan: Thanks!! I'm glad there's no mistakes...lol...  
  
¤¤ aalikane: Well, it had hit him harder than I had shown in the story. I had planned on him acting like he wasn't being much bothered by it, but on the inside he was extremely shocked by it. As a matter of fact, he still is about it in this chapter.  
  
¤¤ Kevin-McKay: Yeah, I agree. I think he will too. Thanks for the comments!!!  
  
¤¤ Chibi Chingo: Thanks a bunch!!  
  
¤¤ - : Thank you!  
  
¤¤ The Fenris Wolf: Thank you very muchly! I'm glad you like it!  
  
Okay, here goes 22....onward!  
  
Chapter 22- Excitement, Stress, and Nervousness  
  
The month of May was passing very quickly, and Hogwarts for Harry had changed very much.   
  
The teachers had been giving more homework than ever, pressing the seventh years about final exams, which would take place next month in June. But it wasn't just exams that the teachers had been pressuring the students about, graduation was also approaching.  
  
For Harry, his emotions were confused. He was excited about ending all of the stress and homework of school, yet he feared leaving school and having to get out on his own. Often--as he had done many times before--he would find himself wondering what he would do...where he would go...  
  
After Harry had told Neville the prophecy, Neville had seemed strangely distant. Whenever anyone would talk to him, he'd just shrug, nod or shake his head. Lately, however, he'd began to warm up to everyone and was finally starting to talk to people again.  
  
Slytherin and Hufflepuff's Quidditch match was not as exciting as the one between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but worth watching. Slytherin had tried to play a nasty game, but Hufflepuff pulled off a win.   
  
So, that meant that Gryffindor would have to play Hufflepuff for the final game.  
  
Soon it was the day, and the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams gathered on the Quidditch field, an extremely noisy crowd gathered around them.  
  
"Welcome to the last Quidditch game of the year, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff!"  
  
Boos, yells, and whistles along with many cheers sounded around.  
  
"Players, mount your brooms!" called Madam Hooch.   
  
Harry got onto his broom and got into position. He didn't even hear Dean announced that the Quaffle had been released-- he merely began moving whenever everyone else had.   
  
He took his usual spot at the end of the Quidditch field, his eyes searching around from the Snitch, swaying slightly.  
  
Being on a broomstick made all of Harry's worries temporarily vanish, the feel of the wind around him made him feel much better.   
  
"Gryffindor scores! Ten points!" boomed Dean. "The Chasers are moving quick...oh.. Hufflepuff barely missed that Bludger! Ginny Weasley has the Quaffle, she's going downfield--oh! Intercepted by--"  
  
Harry stopped listening, he needed to get moving. He spotted the Hufflepuff Seeker circling the field. Suddenly, a Bludger whistled by his ear and almost swept him off his broom in surprise. He began to circle above the game, searching hard.  
  
A glimmer of gold caught his eyes. He noticed, however, that it was the Slytherins playing tricks on him. He scowled and kept looking...where was the stupid thing?  
  
It would be a real shame if--on the last game of Quidditch he'd ever play at school--he lost to Hufflepuff. Harry's thoughts suddenly went back to the Triwizard Tournament....when everyone believed he was stealing the glory from Hufflepuff and Cedric Diggory...  
  
But this was Quidditch. He mustn't think about his fourth year.  
  
Another glimmer of gold caught his eye, this time he was sure it was the real thing. The Hufflepuff Seeker must have noticed it too, for he was streaking towards it....  
  
Harry gasped slightly and burst forward at lightning speed, gaining on the Snitch, but the Hufflepuff Seeker was closer...he'd be sure to get there before Harry did...  
  
But the Snitch swerved down, out of the other Seeker's reach.  
  
"The Snitch has been sighted by both Seekers!" bellowed Dean. The crowd suddenly started getting very loud.  
  
Harry zoomed downward, reaching his hand out to capture the struggling ball, when it went the reverse direction, frustrating Harry. He chased after it, the Hufflepuff Seeker gaining on him. They were both closely monitering the Snitch's direction, which seemed extremely unpredictable.  
  
Harry finally predicted its movement, and went in the reverse direction of the Snitch, and as it turned around, it flew right into Harry's hand, and he grasped it firmly.  
  
"HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!!"  
  
The crowd went wild. Gryffindor had just won the Quidditch Cup.  
  
Harry landed, watching the Hufflepuffs gloomily leave the field, but his vision was blocked when the team tackled him.  
  
"Excellent catch, Harry! Excellent!" shouted Ron. "We won!!!!!"  
  
Everyone was patting him on the back, and he felt better than he had in years.  
  
"Party! Common Room! Immediately!" yelled Ginny.   
  
Harry ran up to the crowded Common Room where butterbeer was being served, plus a load of Chocolate Frogs and plenty of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, that everyone was experimenting with.   
  
Harry changed his clothes and came back down to celebrate. The party went on until into the night, when Professor McGonagall came in, looking quite angry.  
  
"I thought I had already came in here once!" she shrieked. She was right, she had came in earlier during the night to crash the party. "Everyone, get to bed! Or points will start being deducted and detentions will start being handed out!"  
  
Everyone groaned.   
  
"And pick up the Common Room. It's a mess!" she said, before stomping out of the portrait hole angrily.  
  
With quick waves of everyone's wands, the Common Room was clean again, and everyone began trudging up to bed tiredly. Harry went up to his dormitory, but froze as he heard Ron and Hermione's voices inside.  
  
"Maybe we can get married when we get out of school, Hermione, you know?" Ron was saying.  
  
Harry's mouth dropped. Marriage?  
  
"Yeah," agreed Hermione. "But when?"  
  
"Dunno, whenever you were ready."  
  
"Okay, well, where can we live?"  
  
"We could stay at the Burrow, it's not really as crowded now, with only four of us staying in the house..."  
  
"Your mum and dad wouldn't care?"  
  
"Nah...I don't think so. Wouldn't that be weird, though, to be married?"  
  
"Yeah...but what about Harry?"  
  
Harry suddenly opened the door and smiled at them, as if he had heard nothing, as if he hadn't been eavesdropping. "Some party," he said, but his voice was shaking slightly. "Barely scraped off a win, didn't we?"  
  
His voice sounded oddly cheery, he could tell.  
  
"Yeah," said Ron. "Where...have you been?"  
  
Harry put on the best confused face he could and lied. "What? I've been down there talking, why?"  
  
"Oh, just wondering..."  
  
"I'm going to go to bed, good night you two," interrupted Hermione, standing.  
  
"Good night," they replied.  
  
Harry said nothing else to Ron, he changed into his pajamas and went to sleep. Ron and Hermione were already talking about getting married? Another thing Harry had to worry about....maybe he'll go talk to Professor Lupin tomorrow...  
  
And he was soon asleep.  
  
--------------------  
  
Harry awoke late, like all the Gryffindors, the next morning. The first thing he thought about was going to go talk to Lupin. But first, he remembered, he had some homework to finish.   
  
So he pulled out his books and finished a particularly nasty potions essay, along with a Charms and Transfiguration essay. Harry finished them quickly, and put all of his stuff away. He got dressed and hurried down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.  
  
He knocked on the door, hoping and praying that he was still in there...  
  
"Come in."  
  
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and walked in. Lupin was at his desk, grading papers.  
  
"Hello, Harry," he said, looking up. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Err...I was wondering if I could talk to you, but you look kind of busy--"  
  
"No...no..." muttered Lupin, moving the stack of papers away from him and motioning for Harry to sit down. "Please, sit, you can talk to me, I can grade later."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, definately. Congratulations on winning the Quidditch Cup yesterday...that was a terrific catch. Now, what's wrong?"  
  
"Thanks," said Harry. "I wanted to talk to you...well...about a few things actually. First of all, I was going up to bed last night and I heard Ron and Hermione talking inside..."  
  
Lupin waited patiently.  
  
"They were talking about when they should get married."  
  
Lupin's eyes widened. "Really? Already?"  
  
"That's what I had thought," sighed Harry. "And they were talking about that they may be able to live at the Burrow after they're married...it just...bothered me for some reason. I mean, I have no problem with them getting married--they're my best friends! It's just, I kind of see them as brother and sister to me, and them getting married seems like it would be a huge step for anyone and....I dunno...maybe it's because I don't know what I'm going to do..."  
  
"No, I understand, Harry. You have no problem with them getting married, and you'd be delighted if they did so, but them getting married is a big step and you feel like it seems extremely awkward...I understand. I can't say I know how you feel, because Lily and James liked each other at the end of their seventh year....they hadn't exactly been friends the whole time they were at Hogwarts..."  
  
"Yeah, I guess that's how I feel. It just seems...so adult-like to me and it's just...so weird..anyway, that's one thing I felt like telling someone. Another thing is, well, where am I supposed to go?"  
  
Lupin looked a bit confused.  
  
"After I graduate, I mean, what am I going to do? Where am I going to live--what can I do for a job?"  
  
Lupin smiled slightly. "You forget that Sirius gave the both of us his house."  
  
Harry shut his mouth and stared at him. Why didn't he think of that before? Now he felt stupid...  
  
"And, actually, I have my own house, so I think that you should inherit Sirius's. It wouldn't be so bad after it got cleaned up a bit."  
  
"So, you think I can live at Grimmauld Place?"  
  
"Sure! Nobody there would mind...as long as you kept it for the Order."  
  
"Yeah, that's fine...I mean....they can use it all they want...I feel better now. I had forgot Sirius had let us have the house...I feel a bit stupid now.."  
  
"Don't worry about it," said Lupin. "And as for your job, maybe you could still think about being an Auror. The Ministry no longer thinks you're completely insane...so you never know..."  
  
"Yeah," grinned Harry. "Thanks, Professor, I feel a lot better now, for a while I was thinking that I had absolutely nowhere to go."  
  
"You know, the Order is recruiting new members at the end of this year."  
  
Harry's brow furrowed. Hadn't Lupin told this to him before? Why was he saying it again?  
  
"I have to go eat some breakfast," said Harry, still slightly confused, "thanks again, Professor."  
  
And with all that weight lifted all of him, he felt like he could bounce down the corridors.  
  
--------------------  
  
June had arrived faster than Harry had expected it to, and the pressure of final exams had left Harry in a not-so-bouncy mood. He spent almost every minute studying, reviewing, answering the occasional homework question. It seemed like so much to remember!  
  
The week of final exams was hectic. Hermione was badgering Ron and Harry about studying.  
  
"It's impossible to study any more than we already are, Hermione!" said Ron exasperatedly. "If we studied anymore, we'd have to do it in our sleep!"  
  
Hermione had ignored him, and kept badgering anyway.  
  
"This is an important part of your Hogwarts education," said Hermione sternly. "It's your last final exam, the one most of your employers will look at when they think about hiring you."  
  
The first exams were Potions. Harry was surprised when he thought he had actually made a good Veritaserum (which is extremely difficult). The second exam was Charms, then the third was Transfiguration. They had to transfigure nifflers into puppies. The next exam was Herbology, and Harry wasn't sure if he did well on it. He had squirted the acid-like pus of a plant everywhere. The other exams went well, and overall Harry was quite pleased with himself.  
  
"How d'you think you did on all of them?" asked Ron, when exam week was finally over.  
  
"Pretty good," answered Harry. "You?"  
  
"I think my grades are going to be rubbish," he said. "I kept turning things into badgers, and I have no idea why."  
  
Harry laughed, and Hermione was staring at Ron like he had grown an extra head.  
  
"I think I did good as well," said Hermione, when she had stopped staring. "I found most of my exams to be easy."  
  
"Well, lucky you. I think my wand has some kind of disease."  
  
Harry laughed again, and Hermione shook her head.  
  
"Poor Ron," she said. "He has no idea how stupid he looks."  
  
"Correction, Hermione," said Harry, grinning. "He has no idea how stupid he _is_."  
  
Ron had threatened them both that he would turn them into badgers.  
  
(A/N: I have no idea how the badger thing came up...oh well. I have two more chapters to mess with. I'm absolutely positive it's going to be 24 chapters. Hang in there! Sorry this one is so short, you're really gonna be disappointed about chapter 23's shortness- I'm sorry. It's just hard to write a decent chapter without putting too much information in one! 24 is also short, but I don't think you'll mind about that one...And please please please REVIEW!!! NOO flames! Also, in next chapter, there is...Graduation and a few other things!!! Can't say too much..) 


	23. The Last Midnight

--Harry Potter, and everything you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
Alrighty, this chapter's gonna be a bit of a cliffhanger...hope you still like it though...  
  
By the way, does anybody know when the Prisoner of Azkaban is gonna come out on DVD? Because I loved that movie (I saw it the day it came out) and I can't wait to buy it!!!!!  
  
Review replies:  
  
¤¤ heala: I didn't really plan to do one. I'm not sure if I could make a sequel work, but I have thought about it....not really sure if I will or not. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
¤¤ aalikane: Thank you!!  
  
¤¤ volleypickle16: Thanks!!!  
  
¤¤ PhoenixPadfoot89: LOL That thing's so funny! I came across it a while back, maybe that's where badgers came up in my head. But I found them by going to www.badgerbadgerbadger.com. Thanks for reviewing! Only one chapter left to post and you can see who kicks the bucket!! Happy 4th of July to you too.  
  
Here's twenty-three, and...err...I forgot what I was going to say. Oh well. It was probably pointless anyway.  
  
Chapter 23- The Last Midnight  
  
Tension was greatly lifted from everyone after the exams. Harry himself had been a relatively lighter mood, and found himself spending much of his time outside, where the weather was terrific.  
  
He would go up and visit Hedwig in the Owlery often, pet her and give her owl treats, then often go outside where the giant squid was, and feed him some toast.  
  
You could say he was in a generous mood for some reason, because he was. When he wasn't giving treats to Hedwig or the giant squid, he was spending time with Crookshanks or Pigwidgeon.  
  
It was the middle of June and during Transfiguration that McGonagall stood to give the seventh years news.  
  
She got the class to quiet down before speaking.  
  
"When you return to your dormitories," she said, standing behind her desk. "You will find that a new set or robes will be lying on your beds. These robes are your graduation robes, and they are obviously to be worn on the night of your graduation. Graduation will take place at midnight of June twenty-ninth to June thirtieth. The train will arrive to take you home the next morning. You mustn't be late to your graduation, and all seventh years are required to attend."  
  
For the rest of the class, she gave all of the seventh years free time to talk. This had been the way with all the classes, except for Potions, in which they were still working. It wasn't a big surprise to Harry that he wouldn't let the seventh years have some free time off before they left school...  
  
Harry hurried up to his dormitory after classes to see his robes. They were quite stylish...  
  
His and all other Gryffindors' robes looked like crimson Hogwarts robes with golden edging around them, and the Gryffindor crest on the same spot where it was on their other robes. Harry wondered vaguely what everyone else's robes from other Houses looked like.  
  
Ron held up his robes and looked at them. "They're pretty nice," he said. "Beats black robes, anyway."  
  
Harry mentally agreed, but said nothing.  
  
--------------------  
  
Graduation crept closer, and soon there was two days before it. Seventh years were beginning to swap addresses and Muggle telephone numbers to keep in touch with each other.  
  
"We won't have to do that," said Harry gratefully. "I'm going back to Grimmauld Place to live, since Lupin and I inherited it."  
  
"That's what I would do," said Hermione. "I guess I will go back to my parents' house for a few weeks, then I'll come to either Grimmauld Place or the Burrow. I don't want to leave the Wizarding World behind..."  
  
She looked at Ron as she said this.  
  
"I guess I'll go back to the Burrow and let my mum fuss over me graduating."  
  
Harry laughed.   
  
"Still thinking about being an Auror, Ron?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I hadn't thought about anything else, as you know. I know you're still going after the Auror job, aren't you?"  
  
"I almost have no choice," said Harry. "I'm going to have to learn a little skills if I'm to fulfill the prophecy, aren't I?"  
  
"I suppose so," said Hermione and Ron at the same time.  
  
--------------------  
  
The End-Of-Year Feast took place the twenty-ninth, and the food (as always) was wonderful, but Harry didn't eat much at all. Graduation tonight was tugging at his stomach naggingly. Dumbledore had stood before and gave his speech, which consisted of nothing much different than usual, but he announced the Gryffindor had won the House Cup, barely beating Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, then Slytherin (to Harry's pleasure) ended up last.  
  
At 11:30 p.m., the trio met in the Common Room in their graduation robes. Harry's stomach was churning, Hermoine was bouncing slightly on her feet, and Ron was slightly pale.  
  
He wasn't as pale as Neville, however. He looked like he was going to be sick, and Harry actually saw him run off to the bathroom once.  
  
The three walked through the corridors toward the Great Hall, their nerves making them shake slightly. Harry couldn't understand why he was so nervous. He was just going to have to stand there, wasn't he? That's all!  
  
They gently opened the doors to the Great Hall and walked inside.  
  
Most people were already there. The Slytherins were dressed in green robes, with silver edging and their crest. The Ravenclaws were dressed in royal purple robes, with black edging, and the Hufflepuffs were dressed in dark yellow robes with also black edging.   
  
It was quite strange to see so many different colors in one room at Hogwarts. Harry could only remember one other occasion in which this had happened- the Yule Ball.  
  
A huge stack of certificates was lying on a table near the Staff table. Near 11:54, Professor McGonagall came in. This surprised Harry, for he had been expecting Dumbledore to come in first.  
  
McGonagall was heading up toward this table when she stopped nearby Harry, Ron, and Hermione as someone called her name.  
  
The whole Great Hall was full of chatting people, all in their seats. Ron and Hermoine were paying no attention as Remus Lupin swept through the hall and stopped beside McGonagall.  
  
"Dumbledore," he whispered hurriedly, but Harry heard him. "He's in the Little Hangleton graveyard. Apparently Voldemort is there. I've contacted the Order, they said for you to continue the graduation as if nothing has happened. I've been ordered to stay here with you as well."  
  
Harry's heart raced. It was the same graveyard in which Harry was tied up to in his fourth year...and he had a horrible image that the same would happen to Dumbledore...but no...Dumbledore was too powerful, right?  
  
As McGonagall and Lupin turned their backs to go hand out certificates, Harry stood and hurried across the hall and out of the doors, thankfully unnoticed even by Ron and Hermione.  
  
He pulled out his wand as he came into the Entrance Hall quietly, hearing everyone in the Great Hall stop talking...and the occasional "Shhh!"  
  
Harry had a plan. He would go to Hogsmeade, and he would Apparate to Little Hangleton, to help Dumbledore...why would the Order be called if Dumbledore wasn't in trouble? Forget graduation....  
  
So he crept softly outside, keeping his wand at the ready. He took off at a clear run toward Hogsmeade, the dew on the grass making him slip, until he reached the road.  
  
"Lumos," he said, walking forward. His wand tip ignited and he hurried toward the gates of Hogsmeade, passing through them. To be safe, he walked a little further until he tucked his wand back into his robes and looked around him cautiously.   
  
He mustn't be seen by anyone. The night was quiet, not a stirring sound heard anywhere. Everything must be clear before he Apparated....the cracking sound made would be loud...  
  
--------------------  
  
Meanwhile, McGonagall had called out some of the certificates for the Gryffindors.  
  
"Hermione Granger!" had been called earlier, and Hermione was standing at the front of the hall where everyone else who had received their certificates were standing, her eyes shimmering with happy tears.  
  
Parvati Patil had been called.  
  
Ron turned around to look at Harry, who would be next, but Harry was not there. He froze.  
  
"Harry Potter!"  
  
Silence.   
  
Lupin's eyes widened, McGonagall held his certificate, a puzzled expression on her face.  
  
"Harry Potter?"  
  
Realization struck her as if she'd been hit sharply in the head. Remus and her were talking right beside where Harry had been sitting....she turned around and gave a panicky look at Lupin.  
  
Everyone in the hall was looking around in confusion, wondering where he had gone.  
  
Lupin stood abruptly and walked over to McGonagall.   
  
"He's gone, Remus, I think he's gone after Dumbledore..." she whispered.  
  
"I know, I'm going to go and see if I can catch him before he's gone. Keep going, just lay his certificate aside. He's probably going up to Hogsmeade to Apparate...I'll see if I can catch him.."  
  
He ran out of the hall, and Hermione and Ron's eyes followed him, their expressions changing from joy to fear.  
  
--------------------  
  
Lupin ran as hard as he could. He had never ran so hard in his life. Being a werewolf, he could run very fast.... He ran towards Hogsmeade like his life depended on the amount of time he got there, and he had almost reached the gates when he heard it.  
  
CRACK!  
  
Harry had Apparated--he was gone.   
  
"NO!" shouted Lupin, sprinting to the gate. "NO!"  
  
He kicked the ground in frustration, knowing it would be no good to shout. Harry was gone...  
  
"What were you thinking?" he said quietly to himself.  
  
He could not go after Harry, it was not his orders. He would have to return to the graduation, and pray that someone would be there to keep him out of trouble..  
  
(A/N: I never planned for this chapter to be SO short, but I also didn't plan to put anything that I want in chapter 24 to be in chapter 23, so I had no choice. I'm sorry! Chapter 24 is my last chapter, and in it you'll find out why the story is called 'Ensnare the Senses' and you'll see the "sticky situation" that is described in the summary! Some of you may guess it...some may not...I told you a character was going to die- I haven't forgotten!!) 


	24. Ensnare the Senses

--Harry Potter, and everything you recognize from the books isn't mine, of course. I could've never came up with a brilliant idea like that. I lack on brilliant ideas. All of them belong to J.K. Rowling!  
  
--------------------------- Hmm....sorry, I think this is the shortest chapter of the whole story if I'm not mistaken!!!!!!! But no matter, this chapter has enough goodness in it that it makes up for the shortness. Here's the review replies:  
  
¤¤ PhoenixPadfoot89: Yay! Okay, Crimson Phoenix Day then. (That's cool, because the fifth's my Bday) so I'll be able to remember it. You'll get to see who dies this chapter! ::grins:: Seems like you have a good idea who it is though!!! :-) Thanks for reviewing!   
  
¤¤ Luxferre: I'm sorry!!!!!!!! But I'm glad you reviewed! :-)  
  
¤¤ Kevin McKay: LOL that's okay. I wondered if I had posted twenty-three a bit faster than usual...Midnight? Man...you've gotta be tired...lol. I'm on the other side of the country in TN! Closest I've been to CA would be Las Vegas--awesome (and extremely colorful) place. Yeah, the word "badger" is funny sounding for some reason...dunno, maybe I'm just weird...  
  
¤¤ volleypickle16: Hey, thanks!! I'm still not sure about a sequel. I've actually been subconsciously thinking about one in my head....but I'm not sure if it will work out. I'm also working on this story (it's starting out really cool) and I'd probably end up posting it before doing a sequel for this one, but I'll think about it more!!! Thanks for reviewin'!!!  
  
Here we go, the last chapter! Okay, you guys probably aren't reading these words, but I just decided I'd be quick and post the final chapter to this story (Just to make you all happier!!! See, I can be nice!!!)  
  
Oh well, here we go!  
  
Chapter 24- Ensnare the Senses  
  
Harry arrived at the graveyard, hoping his presence hadn't been given away by the sound of his Apparating. He crouched behind a headstone, his heart still racing. Where were Dumbledore and Voldemort?  
  
With a pang, memories flooded back to him.. the graveyard......the exact same one Cedric died in...the same where Voldemort was ressurected...  
  
Swiftly, he stuck his head around the headstone and snuck to another one, hiding behind it. And idea struck him and he changed into Animagus form.  
  
Harry had once told Hermione that being an unregistered Animagus could come in handy. It seemed that he was right... he quietly walked around the headstone and stalked around, looking for Dumbledore, and preparing to have an encounter with Voldemort.  
  
As Harry looked around, memories of the night Cedric died came into his mind, and he hurriedly blocked them out. He moved along, until his sensitive ears picked up a voice....a highly familiar one...  
  
He went toward the voice, and as he moved in the shadows, he saw them.  
  
Voldemort was cornering an unconcerned Dumbledore against a particularly large headstone. Dumbledore's face wore that of calmness...and Harry was amazed at it.  
  
The crickets and toads were singing an annoying chorus, and as Harry snuck toward the closest stone at Voldemort's back, Dumbledore's eyes fell upon him and he muttered, "Shadow."  
  
Voldemort stopped talking and turned around so fast that his head looked as if it were going to spin off from his neck. Upon seeing nothing, he turned back to Dumbledore.  
  
Amazingly...unbelievably....Voldemort did not get a vision that Harry was back to normal...back as a human...  
  
Harry silently pulled out his wand and tightened his grip on it. He was about four feet from Voldemort..  
  
He got up his courage. He was going to do it. He was going to do this now, for everyone he has lost, and for himself most of all...  
  
Bellatrix Lestrange's words flooded back to his mind.  
  
'Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You have to mean them, Potter!'  
  
His heart was racing worse than ever....it was beating so hard against his chest that he wondered if Voldemort would hear it...  
  
He knew Dumbledore was wondering what he was doing.....wondering where the Order of the Phoenix was...he gripped his wand....he was about to do it...he had to....he had to do it now....he may never get the chance to do it ever again...  
  
He wanted to cause Voldemort's death. He needed to get it over with....it was like taking a sickly medicine...knowing everything would be better once it was gone.....his scar was burning like an ignited fire in his head...  
  
He stepped out from behind the headstone and boldly thrust his wand out. Voldemort did not get the vision of him standing there....  
  
He was Harry Potter. He would do this. He knew he could do this...he was Dumbledore's equal...and he had to prove it...his scar was still aching...  
  
Voldemort was still talking, his wicked smile in place as he stared at Dumbledore. Dumbledore was careful not to look at Harry....one glance may give his presence away...  
  
He thrust out his wand again.  
  
'I believe you are capable of the Unforgivable Curses, Harry..' Those were Dumbledore's words.  
  
Voldemort continued. "And he'd look at the wall, the stupid boy, and hiss out in the regal language he shouldn't be capable of--'Ensnare the Senses....Ensnare the Senses---'"  
  
Do it now, Harry...do it now...  
  
"Shut up," he snarled at Voldemort, "Avada Kedavra!"  
  
Harry watched with sheer fascination as the green light burst from his wand...the same green light that had killed so many...it hit Voldemort and it seemed to be absorbed...  
  
For a second, Voldemort just stood there...the grin wiped from his face....  
  
The crickets and the toads stopped their chorus. A ringing silence swept the graveyard....a wind suddenly picked up like a raging hurricane....  
  
BOOM.  
  
An explosion occured...a white and blinding explosion where Voldemort had once stood...  
  
It was like a supernova, such a blinding explosion that Harry could see it through his shielded eyes...he wondered what was happening but he was never knocked to the ground...  
  
The explosion dissipated, the winds died, a mist-like smoke cleared, and not a sound was heard as Harry looked down at a pile of black robes covered with ashes that had once clothed a hideous monster...  
  
Harry dropped his wand and it hit the ground as if it were in slow motion...He took his first breath of life without Voldemort..  
  
He was dead. Gone forever. The prophecy was fulfilled...  
  
Harry stared at the heap of robes on the ground, watching as a the ashes upon them stirred in a whispering wind. The crickets and the toads began singing once again, and the night was filled with its usual normality.  
  
Harry did not move. He had just killed. He was a murderer...  
  
Dumbledore looked at him, watching his face, and he reached down to pick up Harry's wand.  
  
He held it out for him.  
  
Harry looked at it, then at Dumbledore's twinkling eyes, a sign that everything was going to be all right....it was over..  
  
The young wizard smiled and took the wand, tucking it into his robes.  
  
"I just--"  
  
"Yes, Harry. You did. He is gone now and he will never return to haunt the footsteps of wizardkind again. All thanks to you, Harry. It's all over. We can finally live."  
  
Harry looked down at his crimson robes, which were still clean. "Back to Hogwarts?" he muttered, looking at Dumbledore.  
  
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, indeed. I believe there is a certain certificate that you haven't received yet, and strangely enough, after you would have graduated, I was planning to ask you if you were interested in joining the Order. But there is obviously no need for an Order anymore...."  
  
With a reasurring smile from Dumbledore, they both Apparated to the gates of Hogsmeade, where the clouds were showing a sign of early morning.  
  
The two walked down to Hogwarts in silence, but with small smiles on their faces, and Harry couldn't help thinking about the last words from Voldemort's mouth that seemed to ring through the silence like a serpent's hiss:  
  
**_"Ensnare the Senses."_**  
  
(A/N: THE END! That's why the story is called Ensnare the Senses...because those are the last words Voldemort said before he died. (Snape would be proud, LOL) And by the way, all those times that Lupin told Harry that the Order was recruiting members at the end of the year--he was trying to hint to Harry that they wanted to recruit him. Hope you liked the story, please please REVIEW......I really want to know if you liked it, but still don't flame me!!!!!)


End file.
